


Crossroads of Our Destiny

by neon_lights21



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Angst, Bending (Avatar), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2020-08-10 18:02:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 42,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20139679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neon_lights21/pseuds/neon_lights21
Summary: For years, there had been rumours of people lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to snatch a person away. There were rumours of benders going missing, only to be found a few days later, barely alive and without their bending abilities. Some never recovered, and were driven to insanity. Some disappeared once again. Rumour has it that they joined the same people who had taken away the most precious part of their soul.Or, in which Dowoon is a troubled waterbender, Sungjin is his non-bender brother, Jae is an airbender merchant, Wonpil is a firebender who has seen too much and Younghyun is an earthbender who didn't ask for any of this.And their adventures running away from rogue benders while trying to defeat them.Day6 Avatar: The Last Airbender AU





	1. Just take a bite out of the silver sandwich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dowoon: waterbender  
Sungjin: non-bender, Dowoon's brother  
Jae: airbender  
Wonpil: firebender  
Younghyun: earthbender

_ For years, there had been rumours of people lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to snatch a person away. There were rumours of benders going missing, only to be found a few days later, barely alive and without their bending abilities. Some never recovered, and were driven to insanity. Some disappeared once again. Rumour has it that they joined the same people who had taken away the most precious part of their soul. _

The sun was low in the sky, spreading its golden and yellow rays through the clouds over the horizon. A chilly breeze gently stirred the thick fog over the ice dunes, which had taken a light blue colour that matched the sky. The peaceful silence was only broken by the sound of waves splashing against the ice. 

A boy clad in a heavy blue coat rimmed with soft white fur stood over the edge of the ice with slightly bent knees, making slow circular motions towards the sky with his hands. A small bubble of water rose precariously from the sea, only to burst right above the boy’s head, soaking his black hair. Sighing in frustration, he stomped his foot on the ice, causing it to crack. He raised his arms with more force, feeling his joints crack at the abruptness of the movement. A long, moving tunnel vertex of water soared through the air, rising tens of metres. He leapt backwards in surprise, heart hammering in his chest. As the immense amount of water returned to the sea, a huge wave rippled through the water, finding its way onto the ice where the boy was standing, enlarging the crack previously caused by him. He muttered curses under his breath as he tried to squeeze out the water out of his soaking clothes. Putting on his hood, he started to walk as fast as he could in the opposite direction. The cold wind seemed to shoot small daggers of ice into his face as he picked up his pace and tried to think of excuses to give to his family for staying out so late. Maybe he had gone fishing? But he hadn’t taken the canoe with him. Oh, he could have slipped and fallen into the water, smashing his boat into an iceberg so he had to walk home which took a while because he was quite far from the village. And there was this enormous wave that caused him to lose balance. It really came out of nowhere. He hadn’t seen it coming, he really hadn’t. 

That was the most exaggerated and dramatic piece of waterbending that he had ever done. He never seemed to grasp the balanced techniques of breathing and internal harmony that would stop him from swaying from bending so delicately it was unnoticeable to manipulating huge amounts of water in complex ways. It had honestly taken a toll on his body. He felt his vision blur for a second before shaking his head and squinting to make out some lights in the distance.

When he finally arrived in the village it was pitch black outside, the only sources of light being the fire in the centre square and some torches here and there. There was some commotion coming from the entrance of the ice wall surrounding their village. He tried to sneak past before anyone noticed him.

“Dowoon!” someone shouted from behind him, “come here for a second.”

He froze and reluctantly turned around, taking slow steps towards the entrance.

“Look, Sungjin hyung, I was out-”

He stopped talking when his brother put a hand up to stop him. He didn’t look pleased as he sighed heavily before speaking.

“Stop, stop, stop. I don’t want to hear it. I know you’ve made up some elaborate excuse, but you’re a terrible liar. And besides, I think I have an idea about what you’ve been doing all day.” He eyed Dowoon’s soaking wet clothes with disapproval written all over his face. “But you need to stop sneaking off without telling anyone. I was so worried! If you want to practice bending then at least tell me when you’re going to disappear so I can come with you. It’s not safe to be out this late, especially alone.” Sungjin stopped to catch his breath before continuing. “And do you have any idea how hard it is for me to make up excuses for grandma so she doesn’t chew your head off? She might be old but she’s more than smart enough to spot a lie. Maybe I should let her scold you for once. Then you might stop running off.”

He had a pensive look on his face, as if he was seriously considering handing Dowoon’s head straight to their grandmother, but he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a plank hitting the ice. He raised his head, half turning around to face the sea and blinking to clear his vision.

“What was that?” Dowoon asked, cranking his neck to see what was going on.

“Some fishermen from a neighbouring village. Their boat was damaged by a huge wave. I wonder where it came from.” Sungjin glared at Dowoon.

He gulped and looked down, thankful that he still had his hood on so his brother couldn’t see his reddening ears. 

“Whatever. They’re staying the night. Go help them, I’m tired.”

Dowoon diligently walked towards the fishermen. He hadn’t even taken two steps before feeling a smack to the back of his head, making water droplets fly everywhere.

“Hey!” He protested, turning around to face his brother, who wore a challenging look on his face.

“You’ve lost your right to object to my superiority,” he said menacingly, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Now go before I hit you again.”

Dowoon grumbled as he grumpily stomped his way towards the entrance of the village. When he was near enough, he saw two men unloading their boat, which looked visibly damaged even in the dim light of the torches surrounding them. There was wood sticking out of the sail, which was almost torn in half. One side of the boat was completely destroyed and it had a huge hole in it. He felt guilty when one of the men looked up and greeted him with a warm smile.

“Hey there! I’m Hwa and this is my brother Jong,” he said, pointing to the other man who waved at Dowoon in response, with the same smile on his face. “We’re really sorry for inconveniencing you, but our boat needs some serious repairing and we can’t do it in the dark,” he laughed, waving his hands to the side.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you would’ve done the same thing if it was one of us,” Dowoon said, stepping forward to take a box full of fish from Hwa’s hands. He looked youthful, but he wasn’t exactly young.

“I’ll help you repair your boat in the morning. I know quite a lot about construction, actually, since I help my grandfather in his workshop.”

“That would be great! It’s really nice of you,” Jong said, tilting his head to the side to take a better look at Dowoon. “Do you mind me asking what happened to _ you_?”

“Oh, I- I was fishing…” he mumbled, casting his eyes down nervously. He missed the way Hwa and Jong exchanged a glance between them.

“So you got caught in the wave too? It was pretty weird, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” he said in a weak voice. Why were there so many boxes of fish? How did they even manage to catch that much fish in a day? Sungjin would have called that situation a bit fishy if he were there.

“It sounds like you’re catching a cold. Did you actually fall into the sea?” Hwa asked in a sympathetic voice, snapping Dowoon out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah I did. It’s not a big deal though.” He tried to wave it off, but Hwa and Jong seemed very interested in him.

“What happened to your boat then?” Hwa asked.

“It was kind of destroyed so I had to walk back,” he replied. He was starting to get annoyed at them. Why couldn’t they just stay the night and mind their own business? “I don’t think I can find it even if I go looking for it,” he said with finality.

“That’s unfortunate. But I’m sure you’ll build another one in no time,” Hwa smiled, but there was something else shining in his eyes. “You know, I actually have a son about your age. I go fishing with him very often. Does your dad do that as well?”

Dowoon felt his throat go dry as he slowly straightened his back from his hunched position over the boat. What was this guy getting at?

“Uh… yeah, yeah…” His heart was beating harder than when he had raised that vortex of water. “Actually, I don’t go fishing as much as I used to. my brother Sungjin does most of it these days. You met him, right?” Hwa and Jong both nodded. “He’s better at it anyway. I usually help out my grandfather in his workshop.”

“That’s pretty nice of you,” Jong said.

Dowoon nodded absentmindedly as he crouched down to pick up the last box. He set it down besides the other ones, sighing and stretching his back. He whipped his head around when he heard a high pitched whimper. He brought his torch nearer to the boat, only to reveal a small, fluffy, shivering penguin blinking at him and opening its beak as if it wanted to tell him something.

“Is that… a baby penguin?” he asked, puzzled. 

“Oh, right. We found it on the iceberg we hit this afternoon. It’s injured so we didn’t want to leave it there to fend for itself.”

Dowoon hummed in response as he slowly reached out to pet its small head. First, he had caused extensive damage to some poor fishermen’s boat and now he had caused a small, innocent animal to be injured and separated from its family. He wasn’t proud of himself for his bending shenanigans. He really needed to start listening to Sungjin. When he carefully put his hand on the penguin’s soft head, it screamed loudly, straightening itself and running off at a speed he didn’t think was possible for penguins to reach, leaving behind a gust of wind.

“Hey!” Jong shouted after it, but it was already far away from them.

“I swear I didn’t hurt it!” Dowoon said, terrified. Why was he messing everything up?

“I know, I know,” Jong said tiredly. “Let’s just go after it.”

“What if it’s going back to its family?” Dowoon asked.

“I don’t think so. We found it pretty far from here. Come on, let’s go before it runs too far.”

“B-but did you see how fast it ran? How is that even possible?” He looked between Jong and Hwa, who seemed to be quite relaxed, like seeing a penguin practically fly was a daily occurrence for them.

“What are you talking about?” Jong asked, seemingly confused. “It’s really small so there’s no wonder it can move faster than a grown penguin.”

“I guess you’re right,” Dowoon replied in a resigned voice.

They started running in the direction the penguin had taken off. It was easy to follow since it had left visible traces in the snow, but it felt like they were never going to stop. The penguin had managed to go so far that when they finally found it the village’s lights were only small dots hazy from the distance and the fog. He turned around to face the penguin, which had managed to back itself into the corner of a sizable snow dune that muffled the sounds of the waves crashing behind it. Hwa and Jong nudged him forward towards the penguin. He slowly approached it so he wouldn’t startle it again and he picked it up. It felt soft and warm in his hands as it moved around to bury its head in his shoulder. He grinned as he looked at Hwa and Jong, who seemed quite impatient. Just as he was about to start going back to the village the penguin jumped out of his arms, landing on Hwa’s shoulders. The force of the penguin pushing him made him stumble backwards. Hwa and Jong jumped forwards and grabbed both of his arms, pinning him to the dune. He felt himself shiver as snow found its way down his neck, trickling onto his back. He tried to free himself from their hold, but they had an iron grip on his arms that would surely bruise later. His breathing became erratic as he thought about the meaning and the consequences of the situation he was in. Sungjin and his grandparents had warned him about the people lurking in the shadows and the benders that had disappeared. For a few years, he had started thinking that it was just a trick for them to scare him into behaving, but now he was being held hostage by two strangers, far away from home. Were they even who they said they were?

“Good job Chichi,” Hwa said, as he tickled the penguin’s stomach, making it hum in contentment.

_ Treacherous little bird. _

Then he felt their grips loosening and he found himself on the ground, his face buried in the snow. He tried to turn his head to the side to spit out the snow, but his body was shivering and it didn’t seem to want to cooperate with him. He shakily got on all fours and tried to make a run for it but he was pinned to the ground by a gust of wind that knocked the breath out of him. Blood rushed to his head as he heard the sound of snow being crunched by slow footsteps. Someone grabbed his arms hard, twisting them and making him cry out in pain. He felt something coarse being wrapped around his wrist and someone’s warm and stinky breath on his neck.

“Not so fast,” Jong whispered in his ears, tying his hands together with a rough rope.

They turned him around, making him face them. His eyes were stinging from the little ice crystals stabbing them and making his vision blurry. He blinked several times until there were tears in his eyes.

“So you're Dowoon?” Hwa asked in a harsh voice, all traces of the previous warmth and sympathy gone. Dowoon coughed and spat out the snow in his mouth.

“What do you want from me? I'm not a bender! I won't be useful for whatever you want! I swear!”

The ice cracked.

“Shut up and answer our questions,” Jong said with menace, “or I’ll burn your face off.” 

He raised his palm and a small, crackling flame appeared in his hand, reflecting itself in Jong’s dark eyes. Dowoon’s stomach dropped and his breath hitched. He pinned his eyes to his lap.

“Did you happen to cause a bomb to go off when you were a kid?”

Dowoon’s head snapped up in fear. No one outside their village knew about that.

“What? How did you know?”

“Didn't think capturing him would be so easy,” Hwa muttered.

“I’ll take that as a yes then. And you're a waterbender, right?” Jong asked, not paying attention to Hwa.

“No! No! I’m not a waterbender! You must be mistaken! I’m not the person you’re looking for! Please, let me go.”

His foot twitched to the right, causing the soft layer of snow to shoot up in the sky and form a wall between him and the two men, before collapsing down on them.

“Yeah, you just proved you’re not a bender by bending,” he smiled and turned to Hwa. “He’s funny. I like him.”

“No! I didn't do that! I don't know what that was! What are you going to do to me? Please just let me go, I won’t tell anyone about this I-”

He coughed, feeling his chest constrict painfully, as if his lungs were being squeezed from the inside. He tried to take a breath, but his throat was closed off and instead his muscles twisted and cramped. He fell on his back and was faced with Hwa standing on top of him, his hand clenched into a fist. He kneeled next to Dowoon.

“If you think he was joking about burning your face off, think again.” His fist got tighter and the weight on Dowoon’s chest increased. “There are so many ways we could break you,” he poked a finger in Dowoon’s chest, “without killing you. So don’t even think about raising your voice again.” He crouched and lowered his voice. “Or even worse, running away. I could catch you with a flick of my hand.”

Just as Dowoon was starting to see black spots dancing before his eyes, Hwa let go. Dowoon rolled over, coughing and spitting to get some air into his lungs. There were sounds of rushed yet muffled whispering above him, but he chose to ignore them, closing his eyes for a moment. It wasn’t long before he was roughly pulled to a standing position. He swayed on his feet before Hwa pushed him forwards, urging him to make a turn around the snow dune where a canoe was hidden. Dowoon felt a knot in his throat that made his stomach twist. He felt like throwing up. So they were taking him away. He would never see his brother, his grandparents or his friends again. Even if he did manage to come back home alive, he would be deprived of his waterbending. He thought about all the other people who were supposedly taken away for their abilities. Did they feel just as scared as him? Were their hearts thumping so hard it made their chests hurt? Did they try to escape and then fail? Did they even try to escape? Would he survive if he tried to escape? He didn’t want to go like this, lured into a trap by a cute little penguin so pathetically and giving up without even putting up a fight. 

He stopped in his tracks, on the edge of the ice. He could see the black sea, looking so calm and welcoming. Would he survive if he jumped? 

“Get in,” Hwa said, already settling the penguin -Chichi- in the canoe.

Dowoon’s eyes widened. He looked around for a way to escape, but all he could see was ice and snow and water.

“I said,” Hwa lowered his voice, “get in.”

He grabbed Dowoon from his neck, trying to push him forward towards the small boat as Dowoon weakly struggled to stay back. He twisted his body, feeling Hwa’s nails scratch against his neck. He lost his balance and fell back on the ice, but he quickly shuffled to his feet, stepping backwards. The next few seconds were a blur. He wriggled his way out of the ropes, which had become too loose in the struggle. He started running back towards his village, not feeling any pain in his chest due to the adrenaline rush. Flames passed dangerously close to him. He dodged and turned on his heels to face where Hwa and Jong were standing again. Taking a deep breath, he extended his arms out in front of him and pulled them towards himself with force, closing his eyes and praying for something to happen. 

There was a crackling noise, and then silence.

Dowoon cracked open one of his eyes.

Hwa and Jong were a few metres in front of him, frozen into a thick layer of ice with their bodies in positions used for bending. His heart beat faster at the sight, but his excitement was short-lived when he saw the slight glimmer of fire forming in Jong’s fist. He turned around and bolted away, hoping to reach his village before they could break free. 

When he finally caught sight of his family’s igloo, he thought he would cry in relief as he felt some weight being lifted from his chest. Still, he didn’t slow down. Suddenly, he crashed into someone, but he balanced himself by grabbing their shoulders before he could send both of them flying to the ground.

“Dowoon?” Sungjin said, grabbing his head to look him in the eyes. “Where the hell did you go? Do you have any idea how worried we were? I don’t want to find my own brother frozen and dead one morning!” He sounded close to crying. “Where did you go again? Huh? Answer me!”

Dowoon tightened his grip on Sungjin’s shoulders, trying to catch his breath.

“Hyung, hyung, listen to me,” he said in a raspy voice. “Those fishermen, they’re not fishermen. One of them is a firebender and- and the other one is an airbender. They tried to take me away.” Realization hit him hard when he voiced it out loud. It was like dry, cold ice was pulling his stomach down to his feet. “Hyung, they tried to take me away. And I managed to escape. I don’t know how. There was a boat. They tried to push me inside and I froze them. There was this- with his fist- he took-” he shook his head. “The one- the firebender started melting the ice and I know they’re coming back. Which one was it? Hwa? Jong? I don’t know. They want to take me away for my waterbending. I stopped them but they’re coming back. We need to tell the others. They’re coming back!” Dowoon shouted, desperate to make Sungjin understand. Why wasn’t he listening?

“Hey, hey, stop talking so fast. What do you mean they tried to take you away?”

Dowoon pushed Sungjin back, stumbling because of the lightheadedness.

“What part of it don’t you understand?” he shouted in panic. “They tried to kidnap me! They wanted to take away my waterbending!”

Dowoon looked at Sungjin’s widening eyes as his face pales. He opened his mouth as if to say something to Dowoon, but instead, he protectively wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him to their family’s igloo.

Just as they turned the corner, a swooshing sound was heard through the air and a bright, hot ball of fire hit the igloo, making half of it explode. Ice and water flew around in every direction. More fire came their way as Dowoon and Sungjin tried their best to shield themselves from the blazing hot balls. The commotion had woken everyone up, sending them running out of their igloos. Dowoon felt someone shoving him down. Hurried footsteps rushed past him. He turned around. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The two benders were still working together in perfect synchronization, like they had done this a hundred times before. Flames were flying around him, and the wind made it difficult to stand up. He saw his grandfather running towards their little port, where the boxes he had helped unload were still sitting. He moved a small amount of water with a swift motion of his hands, wrapping it around the benders who were now standing in the middle of the village.

“You know I could break free of your little water loopies in a second, right?” Jong said.

“Then why don’t you do it?” Grandpa tightened the water’s grip around their torsos. “What do you want from my village?”

“We want to make a deal,” Hwa started, looking at everyone in contempt. “Give us Dowoon and we’ll leave your village alone. It’s not much, is it? One life in exchange for another hundred. How does that sound?”  
“And what exactly makes you think that I’m going to hand my own grandson to thugs like you?” Grandpa said in a dangerously low voice, slowly making his way towards the benders.

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’ll burn down along with your precious village? We’re going to get him anyway. Now is your chance to save yourself.”

Jong kicked his leg in a circle around himself, melting all the ice and evaporating the water that was keeping him hostage. He lit up a flame in his hand.

“This is your last warning. Let us get what we need or you’ll be the first target of this fire.”

“Over my dead body,” Grandpa growled, slapping them both with more water.

Jong moved his blazing hand towards Chichi, who had been watching everything with amusement and delight.

“I said, give us the boy or I’ll burn this penguin with my own hands!”  
“Are you insane?” Hwa whispered-shouted.

“I don’t care about your damn penguin!” Grandpa shouted, bringing water out of the sea and grabbing them. He whipped his arms around and froze the water while throwing the ice into the sea. A loud crack resonated through the air. Jong and Hwa emerged from the sea, looking like shadows in the distance. They disappeared behind a tall wave, but not before a diamond shaped ring of fire was shot through the sky.

Dowoon tore his eyes away from the fading fire burning above him and looked around.

Most igloos were either melted or badly damaged, with pieces of ice lying around burning pieces of wood. A fallen tent was on fire, burning slowly. A child was crying.

Dowoon stood up, dusting himself off the snow that had found its way into the folds of his clothes. Without meeting anyone’s eyes, he started picking up pieces of debris that were blocking his way, tossing them to the side. Sungjin joined him in silence as he helped him set up a fallen tent. Everyone put themselves to work without uttering a single word. 

Soon enough, the centre of the village had been cleared of the random pieces of ice and wood littering it and a few tents had been set up to provide shelter for the night. Once he was finished putting out the fire on a burning box, Dowoon felt a hand on his arm gently guiding him to one of the tents. Shadows danced on the inside of it as they moved around the fire in the middle and settled down in a corner. 

“Let me see your neck,” his grandmother said.

“Huh?”

“Your neck,” she said, “it’s bleeding.”

Dowoon let out a surprised noise as he lifted his hand to touch the back of his neck. When he pulled back, his fingers were covered in blood and small pieces of broken skin. He stared blankly at his hand until his grandmother set it down on his lap and started cleaning his wounds with a wet rag.

“Aren’t you going to scold me for running away again?” Dowoon asked as she wrapped a bandage around his neck. She stopped and let out an audible sigh.

“That doesn’t matter now. I’m just glad that you’re ok.”

Once she was done dressing his neck, he huddled closer to the fire for some warmth and rubbed his hands together, hoping to get some feeling inside them.

“What do you think is going to happen now?” he asked, searching his grandmother’s face for answers, but all he found was a barely visible frown that signalled her internal conflict.

“It won’t be safe for you to stay here anymore.” 

Dowoon’s stomach spasmed in fear. Blood suddenly rushed away from his head, leaving him dizzy and confused. She didn’t know. She didn’t know. What was _ he _ supposed to do if his grandmother, who always seemed to have an answer to everything, didn’t know what would happen? Fear and uncertainty slowly clawed at his chest as she brushed off a few strands of hair from his forehead. He didn’t want to think about what _ “It won’t be safe for you to stay here anymore” _ meant.

His train of thoughts came to a halt when Sungjin and his grandfather entered the tent, sitting in front of them on the other side of the fire. No one said anything for a while. Dowoon didn’t miss the glance his grandparents exchanged, looking at each other as if they were searching the other’s eyes for strength.

“Dowoon, do you know about the Black Diamond?” his grandfather asked.

Dowoon shook his head.

“They’re a gang. A cult, and a very dangerous one. I remember them from when I was young, probably around twenty five. They asked me to join and they were very persistent even when I refused multiple times. I didn’t know they were still active.”

“How do you know it’s them?” Sungjin asked.

“Their symbol hasn’t changed in fifty years. They must have become very powerful if they survived this long, which is why it isn’t safe for you to stay here, Dowoon,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

“What does that mean?” Dowoon asked. He refused to think about the meaning of what his grandfather had just said, which was almost the same thing his grandmother had told him a few minutes before.

“Dowoon,” his grandfather sighed, rubbing his face. “You can’t stay here. You need to go somewhere safe. These are dangerous people and from what I know, they won’t stop until they get what they want.”

“So I need to abandon the only place I’ve known for my entire life because of some criminals? After I caused it to be torn apart?”

Dowoon looked up at his grandmother for help, but she shook her head before gesturing at him to turn to his grandfather.

“Unfortunately, you do. No one is blaming you for what happened. You didn’t ask for it. And by leaving the village, you won’t only be saving yourself. You’ll keep us safe as well.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds before continuing, this time in a much softer voice. “Your grandmother and I don’t want you to leave either, but it’s your best option for now.”

“And even if I leave, then what? How am I going to live?” Dowoon asked, with a desperate edge to his voice.

“You’re old enough and smart enough to figure that out for yourself,” his grandfather replied. His voice reminded Dowoon of harsh rocks that could withstand the harshest winters and cold winds of the south pole.

“But it’s not fair!” 

“Fair isn’t what you need right now.”

Dowoon deflated, letting out a defeated sigh. His grandparents seemed resolute. There was no way he could stand up to them this time. He would have to leave behind his whole family, his friends, his village. He would end up alone in a town far away, surrounded by strangers, because of his waterbending. He would have to try hard to hide it from then on. He looked up at his brother for help, to stand up for him, but Sungjin’s head was hanging down and he was fiddling with the hem of his coat.

“Fine. I’ll- I’ll-” His words were cut off by a knot in his throat.

“I’ll come with you,” Sungjin said, looking at everyone’s faces with determination in his eyes.

“You don’t have to come with me.”

_ Please come with me. _

“I don’t have to, but I want to,” Sungjin said, giving Dowoon a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

They spent the next day helping out the rest of the village to repair the damage and packing the necessary things they would need for their voyage. They left the day after, just as the sun started to come up.

“I don’t want to go,” Dowoon whispered.

“I don’t want you to go either.” His grandmother cupped his face. “But sometimes you need to let go of the people you love when it’s what’s best for them,” she said, trying to hide the fact that her voice wavered at the last word as she pulled both Dowoon and Sungjin in for a hug. He didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to let go when his grandfather held him like he would fall apart if he pulled away. However, he soon found himself on a boat full of supplies, sitting across his brother who was busy fiddling with some kind of equipment. Dowoon looked down at the necklace he was clutching in his hands, which his grandparents had given to him and Sungjin before they left. He put it around his neck, hiding it in his coat. 

“Do you want me to make our boat go faster?” he asked.

“Don’t you dare,” Sungjin said in a low voice.

“But I practised! I know how to do it this time,” he said, earning himself a glare from his brother.

“If you want to swim to land like last time, I could just throw you off the boat,” Sungjin said, poking Dowoon’s head with a fishing rod.

“They knew about mom and dad,” Dowoon said after a few moments of silence, fumbling with the fabric of his clothes. 

Sungjin’s head perked up.

“Seriously?” he asked. “What did they say?”

“They asked me… they asked me if I set off a bomb when I was a kid.”

“How would they even know about that?” Sungjin whispered. “But whatever, that doesn’t matter now. Let’s just focus on getting to the air temple.” 

“But what if they were the ones who put the bomb there? They could have used an old one to make it seem like an accident. Maybe they wanted mom’s waterbending and my waterbending too, but they couldn’t get me then so they decided to come back. Maybe the stone was supposed to take our bending after we died but I didn’t die so they decided to come back. But why after so many years?”

“Come on, you’re thinking about it too much. It doesn’t even make sense for them to be involved. Grandpa would’ve known if they were.”

“Yeah,” Dowoon said tiredly. “You’re probably right.”

They spent almost all of their journey in silence, only speaking when absolutely necessary. Both longingly looked back at the village which was becoming smaller and smaller as they sailed away from the south pole. It was still surreal. Everything had happened so fast that the shock of having to move away from the only place they knew in the whole world hadn’t settled in. There was no going back, though.

They reached the Southern Air Temple after two days of sailing. The port was busy, bustling with not just airbenders, but people from all around the world. Neither of them had ever seen so many people crammed into one place. Everyone was talking loudly, negotiating prices and trying to get the best deal possible, but the sound of it was almost drowned out by sky bisons taking off and landing every minute, raising a cloud of dust from the ground. Dowoon and Sungjin kept close as they walked towards a woman who was busy yelling about all the things she was willing to buy. They approached her in order to sell their boat. They wouldn’t need it anymore as they were planning to catch a ride from one of the airbenders to go to Ba Sing Se. It was much faster and safer, and they would be able to blend in with the other foreign communities of people living there for countless reasons. No one would question them.

Dowoon was about to accept a small bag of coins from the merchant when he felt someone putting one arm around his shoulders, and the other one on the woman’s shoulder.

“Heyyy,” the man, an airbender, said, facing the woman. “I see you’re trying to buy a very exquisite boat from these fine young men. Don’t you think your price is just a tiny bit low?”

“Is it?” Sungjin mumbled, scratching his head while the merchants seemed to be having a staring contest.

Eventually, the woman lowered her gaze and sighed in defeat. She grabbed another bag from behind her, shoving it forcefully in Dowoon’s chest. The coins jingled as he tried to catch the bag before it fell down.

“There,” she said, glaring at the other merchant. “Happy now?” 

He grinned and nodded enthusiastically and turned to Dowoon and Sungjin.

“Come on! Let’s go.”

Once they were out of the woman’s earshot, Sungjin stopped them.

“Wait, what just happened?” he asked.

“I just prevented you from being ripped off and selling your boat for half the price it was actually worth,” he said in a sing-songy voice. “I’m Jae by the way.”

They introduced themselves and let the conversation carry on for a few minutes, telling Jae about their plan to move to Ba Sing Se.

“You’re in good luck then. I’m going there tomorrow so you could hop on Sori with me,” he said with a grin.

They agreed to meet by the sea early the next morning and parted ways after saying goodbye. Sungjin and Dowoon decided to explore the port before finding a place to stay the night.

“Jae seems like a nice guy,” Sungjin said as he flopped onto the bed in the tavern room they had rented for the night. “I’m glad we met him.”

“He smiles too much. Don’t they say killers smile a lot?” Dowoon answered absentmindedly, “but yeah he’s nice.”

The next morning they hurriedly picked up their bags and ran to where they were supposed to meet Jae. He waved happily when he saw them walking towards him.

“Good morning! This is Sori, my flying bison,” he said, gesturing to the giant fluffy animal. “Sori, this is Sungjin and Dowoon.”

Sori hummed in response. Jae pet her head affectionately before urging Sungjin and Dowoon to get on.

“This is amazing!” Dowoon said loudly as the wind messed up his hair.

“I knooooow!” Sungjin yelled in response before cackling and doubling over in laughter.

Once the novelty of flying wore off, Sungjin and Dowoon settled back and started a simple conversation with Jae. They talked for hours, discovering many interesting things about the merchant. He had travelled all around the world, yet he still maintained that he hadn’t even seen a fraction of the world. He told them about his dream of exploring unexplored places, where no one had dared step a foot before. 

“So why haven’t you done it yet?”

“I still haven’t found the right time to do it,” he said with an unreadable look in his eyes. “I have some friends who want to tag along but they haven’t found the right time either.”

They nodded in understanding.

“So what brings you two to Ba Sing Se?”

Sungjin and Dowoon looked at each other in alarm. Dowoon widened his eyes as if to tell Sungjin to _ say something, please. _ Sungjin hesitated before answering.

“We just… we wanted to set up our own business… and stuff… since there’s no chance of growing in that sense where we’re from, ‘cause it’s a really small village and the south pole doesn’t have a good economy in general.”

“I can tell that that’s not the real reason, but it's ok if you don't want to tell me. It's none of my business anyway.” Jae said, turning around to give them a reassuring smile that turned his eyes into small crescents.

Sungjin stared at him, mouth wide, while Dowoon resorted to hiding his increasingly blushing face in his hands.

“So what type of business do you guys do?” Jae asked as if nothing had happened.

“I make sailing equipment,” Sungjin said after regaining his composure, continuing with more confidence. “Dowoon makes all kinds of things: fishing equipment, musical instruments, decorations, weapons, you name it.”

“Musical instruments? Could I perhaps buy one of those when you make them?”

“Of course. We’ll give it to you as a gift. Right Dowoon?” Sungjin said as he nudged his brother in the ribs, making him cry out in pain and remove his hands from his face.

“Yes, of course,” Dowoon said, giving Sungjin the most annoyed look he could muster and making both Sungjin and Jae burst out in laughter.

They reached Ba Sing Se after two more days of flying. The city was huge. They couldn’t hide their amazement at the sight of the mighty walls that kept the city in a protective embrace. 

“I know this tavern run by a very nice lady. You can stay there until you find a place of your own,” Jae said.

“Thank you so much, but you really don’t have to. You’ve already helped us plenty,” Sungjin said.

“I wouldn’t want to abandon you to yourselves. Besides, who else would help you settle down?”

They followed Jae through the crowded streets. There were even more people than at the port. Some people eyed them for a moment longer than they would to any other stranger passing by. Dowoon felt observed as he tugged at the hem of his shirt, keeping his head low. He tapped Jae’s shoulder when they reached a less crowded area.

“Is there by any chance a place where we could get some clothes like… like the ones people around here wear? Before we go to that tavern?” he asked timidly.

“Of course there is. You’ve asked the right person,” Jae replied without hesitation, grabbing both of their wrists and tugging them along to a small market stall in the middle of another street.

***

Once they had their clothes fitted, Jae led them through more streets before they reached the tavern. They stepped through a wooden door and were greeted by the sound of loud chatter. The smell of food made Dowoon’s stomach growl. Jae ushered them towards the back of a wooden counter filled with glasses and plates.

A middle aged woman emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel before looking at them.

“Jae!” she said, smiling softly, “I thought you’d be back around this time. Are those your new friends?” she asked, gesturing to Sungjin and Dowoon, who greeted her with a polite smile.

“Yeah, they are,” Jae said. “Actually, they need to stay here for a while before they can find a place of their own. Do you have any vacant rooms?”

“I sure do! But let me introduce myself first. I’m Jooa, the owner of this tavern,” she said tapping the counter.

“I’m Sungjin.”

“Dowoon.”

“Great! Now let’s get you settled down. You’ve come from far, haven’t you?” she asked, looking at them from head to toe. “You must be hungry.”

“Don’t let her kill you by feeding you too much,” Jae whispered in Dowoon’s ear, making him jump which in turn made Sungjin choke on his own spit.

They looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter, making almost all of Dowoon and Sungjin’s nervousness go away.

Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about that fish pun....  
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There is more to come... *evil grins and cracks knuckles*  
Comments and kudos are appreciated and they always make my day <3  
I have like 5k of outline for this and it's growing... pray for me


	2. Sometimes life is like this tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are graphic descriptions of torture and blood in this chapter so if those things make you uncomfortable, please be careful.

The smell of dust hit Wonpil hard as he pushed the heavy door open with a creak, to reveal a large room with bookshelves stacked inside of it as far as he could see. He quickly ushered Youngyun, Mina and Ahn inside before closing the door, all while coughing a lung out. The library was huge, but the only source of light was the moonlight seeping through a large window at the very back of the room, which illuminated a wooden staircase going up to an indoor balcony and down to a stained glass door. They walked blindly along the shelves as they hadn’t brought any torches with them for fear of getting caught. Wonpil silently lead them to a secluded section of the library, where the stone wall curved inwards under an arch. Younghyun stood in front of the wall, with his legs slightly parted, and removed the stones with ease, revealing a pitch black hole behind them.

“Booby traps? These look like they’ve been here for two hundred years,” Ahn said, leaning to examine the stones that Younghyun had displaced. “Who would fall for them anyway?”

“People are dumber than you think,” Wonpil replied absentmindedly, throwing a rope at him and Mina. “Be quick. I don’t want to attract attention by keeping the fire for too long. We’ve already made too much noise as it is.”

“Relax, no one comes here at this hour. Besides, we’re good at this. In fact, we’ve never failed a mission,” Mina said as she tied the rope around her waist, ready to descend into the hole behind the wall with Ahn.

Wonpil pursed his lips in annoyance as he climbed up one of the stones, shining red flames on the walls of the secret room. He couldn’t see much besides wooden boxes and old, rusty shelves as Mina and Ahn carefully lowered themselves onto the floor, several metres below where Wonpil was sitting with his free hand tucked under his chin. They picked up a bunch of scrolls arranged haphazardly on a small table in the corner of the room, before tugging on the rope twice in order to signal Younghyun to pull them up. He pulled back the stones tied to the other end of the ropes as quietly as he could. As soon as Mina and Ahn were back on their feet again, Wonpil snachted the scrolls from their hands and hid them away in his bag while Younghyun worked to put the stones back in the wall.

“It’s not a good idea to keep them all in one bag. That’s too much sensitive information in one place,” Ahn pointed out, “we need to split them between us.”

Wonpil hesitated before reaching in his bag and pulling out a few scrolls, giving half to Ahn and the other half to Mina while squinting his eyes at them.

“Don’t give me that look,” Ahn said in a slightly annoyed voice. “We’re not idiots, contrary to what you might think.”

There was a loud rumble just as Ahn finished speaking. They all turned around to face Younghyun, who looked at them with a sheepish grin. Wonpil let out an exasperated sigh before turning around on his heels to get out of the library. Honestly, he just needed to breathe some air that wasn’t half dust. He took in huge gulps of air once he was outside, while Younghyun closed the door. They hadn’t taken more than three steps away from the door when the ground quaked underneath their feet and they all fell to the ground. Wonpil could see two figures approaching them, their black masks illuminated by the moon. He tried to get back up, ignoring the pain in his wrists. He created a shield of fire around himself and bolted from his crouching position. The sound of rushing blood and roaring fire muffled the screams around him as he tried to make a run for it, but before he could get too far, a pointed piece of stone made it through his shield and stabbed him right between his shoulder blades, making him arch his back. A tingling sensation ran down his legs and he tumbled to the ground, screaming in pain. The scalding hot stone rolled down his back, binding the fabric of his clothes to the burning skin of his back. A disgusting smell filled his nose as his chest heaved against the ground, with his cheek pressed against the small, yet sharp edged pebbles on the ground. He felt something warm trickling down his back and shoulders, circling around his neck like a necklace. The pungent smell of iron told him that it was blood and made him gag at the same time. The ground shook under his body, but he was too weak to do something about it and the way his vision seemed to be fading in a tunnel made it difficult to see what was going on around him. Someone grabbed him by his collar, which tugged painfully at the injured skin of his back, making him scream in pain. Tears stung his eyes as that same person slapped their hand against his mouth to muffle his screams. He wished he would just fall unconscious as he closed his eyes. The only thing keeping him awake was the stinging pain in his knees, which were being dragged against the rough ground. He could already feel the skin being peeled off by the bumps on the ground. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he was thrown on a cool floor on his back, yet not registering any pain since his back had become numb long before reaching that place. A sweet smell filled his nose, and someone used their calloused fingers to rip open his mouth. A cold liquid trickled down his throat. It was sweet, so sweet that he almost threw it back up before he could even swallow it, but that same person kept his mouth shut with their hands, leaving some finger shaped bruises on his face. Once he had swallowed all of the disgusting liquid, a cold sensation spread through his body, making him relax and close his eyes as he slipped into a blissful and dreamless sleep.

***

The darkness was washed away by the sensation of a thousand needles piercing his entire body, and then melting into ice cold water soaking through his skin. His hands slid around the ground beneath him, feeling nothing but smooth, cold metal. He tried to shift his body to free his left arm, which was trapped under his chest, but a jolt of pain in his neck stopped him. Nausea crept up his throat as he let out a groan, trying to slow down his breathing. 

“Get on your feet,” someone said, grabbing his arm and yanking it up to get him up.

That voice, it was familiar. Wonpil was certain he had heard it somewhere. The touch was familiar too, and it made his skin crawl for some reason that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Another jolt of pain in his back forced him to open his eyes.

There was a torch burning at the very back of the room, but the image was fuzzy with how much his head was spinning. The man who had made him stand up was still next to him.

One look in the eye and everything that had happened hit him in full force. He had been kidnapped and he had been unconscious for who knows how long as a result of his injuries and the drug they had given him. They had probably attacked them to get a hold of the scrolls. Which meant they knew what information they held. Which meant they were the ones who had hidden the scrolls and they were guarding the area because they were expecting someone to try and steal them, and judging by how brutally they had attacked them, they meant serious business and there was no way he was getting out of this without serious consequences.

The implications of these thoughts made a pit in Wonpil’s stomach as the realization that he was in the hands of the Black Diamond sank in. He had never felt so scared in all of his years of wandering around the world to gather information about them. 

His train of thoughts came to a halt when the same man pushed him forward, making him stumble on his feet. They walked out of a metal door in front of which three other guards all dressed in identical black clothes were standing. The hallway was empty, and the only source of light was the torch held by one of the guards. Its light revealed the walls and the ceiling of the hallway. It was narrow and low, all made of metal which made Wonpil feel claustrophobic. Two of the guards tied his hands behind his back and grabbed his arms.

“No kicking, firebending or trying to escape,” one of them growled. “Understood?”

Wonpil nodded, pursing his lips. There was no use in trying to escape anyway. He had no idea where he was and they could easily outnumber him. They would probably kill him this time instead of stabbing him with a burning rock.

Wonpil tried to memorize every twist and turn of the hallway as they walked through more identical doors. They finally reached a large room illuminated by lanterns and torches hanging off all four walls, making the room so bright Wonpil had to close his eyes for a second to get used to it. Despite the amount of fire burning in the room, it wasn’t hot at all, due to the huge blocks of ice placed in every corner of the room. The guards shoved him towards the centre of the room, where Younghyun, Mina and Ahn were gathered around a circular pit.

“Here, your friend’s alive.”

Younghyun seemed to snap out of a trance as he whipped his head around, wincing when he heard a cracking noise.

“Wonpil? Oh my god. I- We- I thought you were dead!” He said, stressing the last word. “Are you- are you ok? Where were you? We kind of just woke up here. I don’t know how long ago that was. Do you know how long we’ve been here? I really want to sleep on a soft bed but e-everything’s made of metal here so that’s not really an option, is it?” He laughed and scratched his neck, but the laughter sounded hollow and closer to a sob to Wonpil.

Younghyun tried to get up, but his legs gave out under him and he cried out in pain. Wonpil stared, stunned and more disturbed by the sight behind Younghyun. Mina and Ahn were lying down, half of their bodies dangling off the edge of the pit. It was too dark and too deep for Wonpil to see anything at that distance. His eyes moved along the trails of blood and bruises on their faces as the guards pushed him down next to Younghyun, who had splotches of red and purple all over his neck. Some parts of his clothes had been burnt off, exposing the scorched skin underneath. With how shaken Younghyun looked, Wonpil wouldn’t be surprised if they had taken his earthbending away. However, they had warned him not to do any firebending just a few minutes before, which meant that he still had them. It was a consolation, but it sent his mind reeling. It would have been easy for them to do it while he was still unconscious, so why hadn’t they taken away his firebending and tossed him somewhere like everyone else? Or just killed him to make sure he didn’t go around with too much knowledge about them? Something was off, and it terrified him.

“We’re going to do a little test,” a woman said with a smirk on her face and stepped towards him. “All you have to do is sit there and defend yourself.”

Defend himself from what?

Suddenly there was a splash and the woman had a rope of water wrapped around his neck, tightening it more and more by each second. She slapped his hands away with another rope of water when he tried to reach for his neck. He coughed and scrambled on all fours, trying to breathe, but the water’s grip was so tight he couldn’t even cough properly.

“Aren’t you going to do something about that?” The woman said, motioning towards his throat.

He opened his mouth to beg her to stop because he was starting to feel dizzy and he couldn’t hold out for much longer.

“I said,” she started again, speaking through her teeth, “aren’t you going to do something about that? Defend yourself!”

Wonpil felt himself fading fast. He couldn’t think of a way to defend himself against those people. There had to be a catch, he thought as his vision started to slowly fade to black. The grip around his neck was starting to feel more constricting and he could sense the water turning into ice. He reacted on instinct as a last ditch effort, gripping the ice with both of his hands and making it melt with the hottest fire he could make. As the pressure around his neck eased, he fell to his side, taking deep breaths even though it burned his lungs. He felt unbelievably hot and sweaty, and once his head was clear enough to pay attention to his surroundings, he registered the boiling water trickling down his body and the steam that surrounded him. He curled up on the ground, taking a few shaky breaths while trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes. He didn’t have the energy to scream.

“I didn’t even know firebenders could boil water so fast, let alone some ice. I thought he would’ve just made it explode,” he heard the man who had captured him say, “and for someone who has started bending a couple of months ago, your technique was incredible.”

“Thank you sir,” the woman replied with a grin.

“And what shall we do with you?” the man said, crouching next to Wonpil, “we said no firebending, remember?”

Wonpil opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, the man pinned him to the ground, bending the metal to wrap it around his hands and feet.

“W-what are you doing?” Wonpil asked in a hoarse voice. “Why- what is this?”   
“Oh, just some delightful exercises for our new benders to practice some more.”

Wonpil wanted to ask a hundred more questions, but the man had already left his side and grabbed Younghyun, who didn’t even resist when he was dropped in front of a young man around his age. He clenched his hands into a tight fist, and Younghyun started to choke. In between his wet coughs, he managed to form a few words, begging the man to stop. But he didn’t, and Wonpil watched in horror as blood dripped out of the corners of Younghyun’s mouth. With a few movements of the man’s hands, Younghyun twitched his limbs involuntarily. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with blood. The sight made Wonpil’s stomach roll. He closed his eyes, not bearing to watch more of the horror show in front of him. He was already regretting all the time he had dedicated to researching the Black Diamond. They wouldn’t be prisoners to some psychopaths who were practising the most revolting skills of bending on them if he hadn’t been so curious to discover more about the mysterious disappearances around his town. Maybe he should have told someone else, someone with more experience who knew what they were doing. There was no going back, though. What was done was done. He could only hope he would live and stay sane enough to reveal the truth to the world.

Back when he had started his research, the Black Diamond didn’t feel real. It was like one of those stories that parents used to scare their children into listening to them and for Wonpil, it was a name that flew around in the wind, not letting itself be caught no matter how much he chased it. But that was exactly what had kept him going, the rush of exhilaration every time he managed to learn something new about them. Now that it was real and he could see and feel the devastating effects of what they actually did to people, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know more. 

He closed his eyes, focusing on the cold metal floor that his face was pressed against. After a while, he couldn’t feel it anymore, just like he couldn’t hear Younghyun’s pleas of mercy as the guards started testing some other horrifying bending technique on him. He tuned everyone’s voices out, forcing himself to remember a familiar song his father used to sing to him when he was young.

_ Leaves from the vine _

_ Falling so slow _

_ Like fragile, tiny shells _

_ Drifting in the foam _

_ Little soldier boy _

_ Come marching home _

_ Brave soldier boy _

_ Comes marching home _

_ Wonpil giggled as his dad finished singing the last words to the song, picking him up from where he had been dipping his feet in the river. _

_ “Can we come back? Please? Please?” _

_ “Of course we can,” his dad said, shaking his head and flashing Wonpil a smile. “I’ll even teach you how to swim when you become a big boy.” _

_ “But I already am a big boy,” Wonpil said with a frown. _

_ His dad laughed. _

_ He screamed. _

_ No, that wasn’t how this was supposed to go. _

_ His dad never screamed. _

He was forced to open his eyes when another scream sounded through his ears. He was sitting next to Younghyun, who was curled up in himself and sleeping. He would have thought he was dead if it wasn’t for the shaky breaths that came out of him every few seconds. Wonpil looked around, confused. There wasn’t any metal around his wrists and legs anymore, it was instead wrapped around his chest. They had moved him over to one of the walls. Did he fall asleep? How long had he been out?  _ _

There was another scream. His head immediately snapped to the direction it came from. Mina was writhing on the floor, limbs contracting and flexing due to an invisible force. And there was blood, so much blood on her clothes and on the floor. Ahn wasn’t in a better shape either. He was lying on the floor, shaking and coughing up blood. Then someone made a fire to dry all of the blood on the floor. The smell of iron made Wonpil gag, and he vomited all over himself. It felt like lightning was going through his body every time he moved, and the constant retching wasn’t helping. 

He tried to get up, but metal surrounded all of his body. It unbelievably hot in the front, where it was closer to a torch and cold in the back, where it was almost touching one of the large pieces of ice in the room. The difference in temperature made Wonpil dizzy. The pressure on his chest was becoming unbearable. Then he was released from the metal’s hold. He took a huge gulp of air before dropping to the ground, vision completely dark before he even reached it. 

He never felt the impact.

The last thing he heard was another gut wrenching scream.

When he woke up for the second time, he didn’t have enough energy to open his eyes. Instead, he opted to listen to the conversation that was going on around him, hoping to tone down the nausea that was almost making him vomit again. He was about to groan in pain as his brain seemed to register all of his injuries at once, but what he heard next made him stop as he tried to halt all movements to listen to what the guards were saying.

“Yeah, the attack on that south pole village actually went well. At least this time they didn’t send wimps who couldn’t even catch that kid. Dowoon, was it? He can’t have been any less than twenty years younger than Hwa and Jong. They say he can’t even control his bending. And to be defeated by an old man… that’s a disgrace to our name. The captain told us to stay on guard and not underestimate that kid. Fucking ridiculous.”

“At least this will teach those people a lesson. Did they take all the benders?”   
“Yeah, but there were only two or three of them from what I’ve heard.” The man paused for a second before continuing in a lowered voice. “There are also some rumours that they are going to be used to give the best benders a second bending ability. Our dreams are finally coming true,” he said, excitement evident in his voice.

Wonpil felt paralyzed. An unpleasant feeling crawled up his chest as he took in their last words. They were still speaking, but he was hung up on their last words. 

_ A second bending ability. _

People would be able to control more than one element. And not with good intentions. The years he had spent travelling around to find out more about them were mostly to satisfy his own curiosity. It had started as a simple hobby, but as time went by, the things he discovered became more and more horrifying and this was the culmination of that. He still hadn’t figured out how it was possible to take away someone’s bending and give it to someone else. Could two powers even coexist within the same person if they weren’t the Avatar? He had searched for years and he had all sorts of information on the operations they had done in the past, like systematic kidnappings, but he never figured out how they were giving those non-benders those abilities. And now they were planning to give them more. If they succeeded in doing so, then nothing could stop them from giving those people a third bending. And then a fourth one. There would potentially be hundreds of people who had the abilities of an Avatar. 

But Wonpil wasn’t stupid. He knew that there was more to being an Avatar than simply controlling four elements. An Avatar’s duty was to protect the world and keep it in harmony, to reach inner peace before attempting to apply the same principles to the world that surrounded them. The Avatar must live with people in order to experience all human emotions, helping them understand the real value of human life, so they would go out of their way to protect it.

The Black Diamond had no intention of doing so. It wasn’t hard for Wonpil to deduce what they really wanted: power. What he didn’t understand was how a bunch of salty non-benders had acquired the knowledge and power to wreak havoc among the world. From what he had managed to gather, the Avatar had disappeared a few years after the first attacks. Even the thought of the Avatar, the most powerful bender in the world, being captured and tortured like him made Wonpil extremely uneasy. If those people could defeat the Avatar, then what  _ couldn’t _ they do? He didn’t even dare think about the implications of that. He would have found out more about the Avatar’s disappearance in those scrolls if his guesses weren’t wrong, which they never were. If only he hadn’t been caught…

He had to get the word out and warn the rest of the world. He had never felt a sense of responsibility about telling other people what he was researching. It was just an obscure thing that no one would care about or even believe. The only people interested were those who had lost someone to the Black Diamond, both literally and figuratively. Even then, many of them attributed the disappearances and loss of bending abilities to freak accidents. The thought of a cult that actively did those things never crossed anyone’s mind. Now, however, after experiencing and hearing what they had achieved through the years, he had a duty to inform the world about what could be the greatest threat to its harmony in all of history. He had to escape. He couldn’t stay there and feel sorry for himself and die.

Something sharp poked his chest and he opened his eyes to see one of the guards nudging him with his foot, looking impatient.

“Get over here,” he said, yanking him up.

As soon as he was on his feet, Wonpil felt blood rush out of his head and he stumbled forward. He would have fallen down if it wasn’t for the other guard catching him and keeping him upright. The same metal door opened again, and he was lead through the same hallway to the same room with the pit in the middle. It scared him even though he didn’t know what it was. Maybe that was why it scared him. It couldn’t have been anything good anyway.

He was thrown to the floor again, next to Younghyun, Ahn and Mina, who were all conscious this time, but they all looked horrible. There was dried blood all over their faces and clothes. It made a stench that made Wonpil gag for the thousandth time. Their hands and legs were covered in bruises and burns. When Wonpil looked at Younghyun’s bloodshot eyes, he saw nothing. No fear, no hope, no despair. For there to be despair, there would have to be hope first, but Wonpil saw none. Younghyun looked dead to him. He couldn’t be looking any better than him or the other two, though. The sight of angry welts around Ahn’s neck reminded him of what had happened to him before he passed out, making his head spin again.

Someone grabbed his collar and dragged him to another corner of the room. Couldn’t have they just dropped him there before? All the dragging and shoving was getting old really fast and the way the fabric of his clothes tugged at the burns around his neck made him cry out in pain. Then the tortures, or exercises as the captain called them, started again. This time he tuned out the screams, whether they were his or someone else’s **. ** He kept his eyes shut whenever he could to not see blood dripping on the floor or limbs twitching and twisting in the most unnatural ways. 

The one thing he couldn’t block out was the pain. He felt every second of what they were doing to mutilate his body and break him, both physically and mentally. So he screamed and shouted until his throat was raw and he couldn’t make another sound. He cried until there were no tears left. He endured it until he passed out again.

Maybe he would actually die in there.

He lost count of how many times he was woken up and sent to that room again. His mind had become completely numb. If a sneaky thought about his situation made its way past the wall that he had built around his mind, his whole body would start shaking as if there was an earthquake. His chest would constrict painfully before he shut the thought down, returning to his pool of numbness that made him feel like he was under water that had just started freezing. He never opened his eyes when he was in that room. He didn’t want to see the things they were doing. Just seeing the state of his own body was enough to send the small amount of food they would give him back up. He didn’t need to see what they had done to the others. Days went by and he had no idea how long he had been there anymore.

He limped as the guards pushed him and urged him to walk faster. They were wearing a taunting expression on their face when they woke him up to get him out of his cell, muttering something about finally getting rid of him. Wonpil heard everything they said, but it was nothing more than white noise and static. 

Then they turned right instead of left. Something was not right. They  _ always  _ turned left. Wonpil opened his eyes completely for the first time in days and surveyed the new hallway. It was identical to all the other ones he had seen. Rushed footsteps came through from another hallway that crossed the one Wonpil was in horizontally, making a threeway. Then at the end of the corridor, Wonpil saw a staircase that led to a door. There was a staircase that led to a door. His heart started pounding in excitement and desperation. This was his chance to finally escape. All he had to do was reach the staircase that led to the door. He looked to his sides. The guards were looking ahead, where Younghyun was being led by another two guards that emerged from the left corridor. They were not paying any attention to his movements. Wonpil saw his chance and leapt forward with a strength he didn’t know his legs still had, making a wall of blue fire between himself and the guards. Chaos erupted as he ran towards the door. Ice and fire and metal started coming his way, but he deflected them all with more fire. It was an instinctual reaction at that point. Nothing could stop him this time. He was getting out of that place.

Then someone grabbed his wrist. Wonpil looked behind, ready to burn the person until he saw Younghyun’s pleading eyes. He didn’t stop running and just dragged Younghyun along with himself. His breath hitched when he jumped over three steps at once, sending a ball of fire towards the door that made it explode into hundreds of pieces. He didn’t know he was capable of doing that. He was suddenly blinded by bright, white light. It made him crinkle his eyes and sent a sharp pain through his head, but he didn’t stop running.

“No! Ahn! Mina!” Younghyun screamed and his voice cracked at the end. 

The pain in his voice sent shivers down Wonpil’s spine, but they couldn’t afford to stop. It was now or never, so he tugged at Younghyun’s sleeve and shoved him in front of himself. They found themselves in a busy street when they turned a corner, shouldering people to get past them. Even though guards were still following them, Wonpil knew they wouldn’t catch them again, so he smiled as he tripped over a rock and fell on a cart.

“My cabbages!”

***

Jae was never one to like delivering bad news, or any news for that matter, but his job as a merchant pretty much demanded that he become a means of communication between people of different cities and nations. He was also not the type of person to not do something simply because he didn’t like it or because it made him uncomfortable. Sungjin and Dowoon deserved to know. Their whole tribe was directly involved after all.

“I see your business is going well,” Jae said, leaning against the wooden stall Sungjin was working behind.

“Jae!” Sungjin said, wiping his hands with a cloth. “I didn’t think you’d come back so soon.”   
“Well, here I am now. Come on, let’s go grab something to drink. Where’s Dowoon by the way?”

“Dowoon!” Sungjin shouted across the street, grinning at Jae. “Look who’s here!”   
Dowoon turned around, giving him an identical smile before abandoning whatever he had been doing to greet Jae.

He gave them both a tight smile before starting to walk to Jooa’s tavern, listening to them ramble excitedly about their newfound market stall in the heart of Ba Sing Se. Once they were seated behind a table next to the window with their drinks in their hands, Jae took a deep breath and relayed the news to them. He hated the way their faces fell when he told them that a village in the south pole had been attacked by a cult that had taken away all of the benders, devastating and terrorising all of its residents.

“Wh-what’s the village’s name?” Dowoon asked in a hushed voice.

“Utuk.”

Sungjin and Dowoon looked at each other. In that moment, only the three of them existed. Time stopped and sounds became muffled. Jae hated the look on their faces.

“Are you sure? Maybe there was a mistake. Are you sure it wasn’t a rumour?” Sungjin sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything else.

Jae shook his head. “I heard it from people who had come to the port from the village. Is that where you are from as well?”

“Yeah,” Dowoon said, “yeah.”

He dropped his head onto his arm on the table. Sungjin gulped, avoiding eye contact with everyone. He only looked at Dowoon’s hunched form when he started sniffling, forehead pressed into his hands. Jae wanted to make a move to comfort him. It hurt him to see Dowoon and Sungjin in so much pain and even if they weren’t that close, he had come to appreciate their personalities, but now he wasn’t sure what to do to lessen their pain. If there even was a way to make their pain go away.

Jae watched awkwardly as Sungjin and Dowoon wrapped their arms around each other, burying their faces in each other’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Dowoon said, his voice breaking at the last word. “This is all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Sungjin held him tighter as he sobbed into his older brother’s shoulder. Jae felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn’t see, but they seemed to have forgotten that he was there as well.

“It’s not your fault,” Sungjin said, stroking Dowoon’s back. “I promise, it’s not your fault.”

Jae had to look away when Sungjin started crying. He could feel the curious and judging gazes of the other occupants of the tavern on himself. He had not expected them to react this way. He thought they would have been a bit sullen and worried about their own family, but he was not expecting them to be native to the same village that had been devastated by the Black Diamond. He wanted to provide a word of comfort to them, to let them know that they weren’t alone in this. That he  _ understood _ .

He understood what it felt like to be far away from those he loved, to not know whether they were alive or not. He knew what being lonely and on your own felt like. He had experienced it all, yet a small voice in his mind kept him from sharing his pain with them to let them know that there were people who understood what they were going through.

“Do you want to go up to your room?” Jae asked when Sungjin and Dowoon broke their hug, both trying to wipe their faces as discreetly as possible. “I’ll bring some food. I’m sure Jooa won’t mind.”

“Yeah,” Sungjin said in a hoarse voice, “that’s a good idea. Let’s go.”

Jae gave him a sad smile as they got up from their chairs. As they were walking across the crowded room, the door flew open and two people came crashing in, tripping and sending both themselves and Jae flying to the ground. Jae groaned, trying to peel the other guy off of him, but he grabbed Jae’s collar with trembling hands, making it impossible to move.

“You have to help us,” he whispered, looking at Jae dead in the eyes. “Please.”

Jae blinked in confusion as Dowoon and Sungjin helped him stand up. There was a crowd behind them, murmuring and waiting for something to happen. Now that he was standing, he observed the two men better. They were around his age, but the look in their eyes made them seem hundreds of years old. Their clothes were torn and stained with blood. 

“You have to help us,” the man said, this time in a louder voice.

Jae noticed the way his hands trembled as he held on to the other man, who cast down his bruised face.

“What happened to you?” Jae asked, afraid of the answer they might give.

“They- The Black Diamond,” his voice wavered, “they kidnapped us. They’re following us and you need to help us because they’re planning on doing so many things and they won’t stop, I know they won’t stop. They’ve already achieved so much that there’s no stopping them.”

“Wait,” Dowoon said, “the Black Diamond? You mean they’re here right now?”   
“Yes,” he said, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor.

Sungjin and Dowoon looked at each other in horror, but before they could say anything, Jae clapped his hands and gestured towards the door.

“We need to get out of here,” he said, already making his way out of the tavern.

A gust of wind sent him flying into the crowd that had gathered behind them. He quickly regained his footing, but someone shoved him to the ground, shouting for everyone to get down. Flames and stones flew on top of his head, setting tables on fire and making part of the ceiling collapse. The few earthbenders that were present were trying to fend off the people clad in black clothes that had burst into the tavern, but they seemed to be one step ahead of everyone, predicting and blocking every single one of their moves.

Jae crawled to where Dowoon and Sungjin where trying to get the two men off the floor and direct them to the door. He created a small spinning vortex of air behind him and ran out of the tavern with the other three in tow.

He directed them towards a small, almost unnoticeable alley. His throat burned from running so much yet he let out a sigh of relief when he looked back and saw no one following them. He swallowed his thickened saliva before speaking.

“We can get out of Ba Sing Se by tonight. We just need to get to Sori safely.”

The sound of an explosion from far behind made the ground ruttle beneath their feet.

“First Utuk, now Ba Sing Se,” Sungjin muttered.

“I guess we’re stuck together now,” Jae said, smiling, “I’m Jae. What are your names?”   
“I’m Wonpil,” the shorter man said.

The other one had his head hanging low. His eyes were half closed and he didn’t seem to notice everyone looking at him. Wonpil rolled his eyes before introducing him.

“This is Younghyun,” he said in an unamused voice. “Let’s just get moving. We can exchange pleasantries later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The squad is now united... Things are moving... What do you think will happen to them now?


	3. If you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take a shot every time you find a quote from the show

Younghyun had no idea how he ended up on a flying bison with Wonpil and three strangers. Everything from the moment they had exited the library was a blur of images and sounds and sensations. All he could remember from what had happened that night were loud sounds and flashes of light and then nothing but pain after that. He didn’t know how long he’d been held captive and frankly, he didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was free and safe now. 

He opened his eyes properly for the first time that day when they started descending towards a clearing in the forest below them. The bison landed on the ground with a thump, splashing a layer of mud over them. People ran towards them with torches in their hands, shouting for them to stop and identify themselves. Younghyun jumped off of the bison. The moment his feet hit the ground, a loud ringing exploded in his ears, making him stagger and fall unto his knees. Younghyun tried to stand up, but as soon as he was up on his feet he felt lightheaded and he fell to his knees again. Every wound on his body hurt. He felt hands under his arms gently guiding him up and he tried to flinch away, but he was too weak to do anything about all those hands touching him. He wanted to tell them to stop, but he couldn’t find his voice and he could only manage to whimper pathetically. He felt bile rising up in his throat when there were more hands on him. Someone was shouting. They laid him down on his side on something soft that smelled like fresh grass. His clothes were being peeled off of him and he felt the fabric tugging at the skin surrounding a burn, pulling at it so hard that he couldn’t control the way he vomited all over himself. There were more hands on him, wiping his face and turning him around. 

Then nothing. All the intrusive hands were gone.

Something cool was placed on his chest, then around his neck and on his back. That touch didn’t make him feel claustrophobic like the other ones. It made his pain go away, calming him down until he felt how utterly exhausted he was. He was lulled to sleep by the sound of something swooshing in water.

_ The guard laughed as he surrounded Younhyun with fire. He looked around frantically, trying to find Ahn and Mina to get out of there, but he felt like he was forgetting something. The heat intensified and the flames grew, licking at the loose parts of his clothes. He looked down at his arms, seeing nothing but bloody flesh. He swallowed down his vomit as he gagged, squinting his eyes to find Ahn and Mina. _

_ He turned around, and they were standing right in front of him, so close that he thought he should have felt their warm breaths on his face. _

_ But they weren’t breathing. _

_ The heat was becoming unbearable and his eyes were starting to sting from the dancing fire around him. _

_ And Mina and Ahn weren’t breathing. _

_ They were standing in front of him, with hollow eyes and blood streaming down their faces. Ahn raised a black, burnt hand to caress Younghyun’s face. It smelled like burnt meat. _

_ “Why did you leave us Younghyun?” Mina asked, tilting her head to the side to reveal a long, open gash around her neck that made her head loll unsteadily on her shoulders. _

_ She took a step towards Younghyun, pressing her forehead against his. Ahn’s dry, scorched hand was still on his face, pressing down painfully on his cheek. _

_ “Why did you leave us with them? Weren’t we worth saving enough?” _

_ “Look what they did to us after you left.” _

_ “You ran away to save yourself, but what about us?” _ _   
_

_ “You left us to die after causing us to get caught because of your carelessness.” _ _   
_

_ “Why?” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Why?” _

_ Younghyun wanted to answer them, but his mouth was so dry and heavy that he barely managed to open it. He shouted that he didn’t mean to leave them to suffer alone, that he wanted so bad to save them, but he had failed. _

_ No matter how much he raised his voice, no sound came out of his mouth. Ahn pressed his hand against Younghyun’s mouth. _

_ “Shhh, be quiet now. You’ll be with us in no time.” _ _   
_ _ The flames grew higher. _

_ A high pitched laugh echoed through the room. _

_ Mina and Ahn were strangling him. _

_ He couldn’t breathe. _

_ He couldn’t breathe. _

Younghyun woke up with a start. He felt like his chest was about to explode from how hard his heart was beating. He sat up, still gasping for breath. A wet cloth fell on his legs. He looked around, confused, until he remembered the events of the previous day.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

Younghyun whipped his head around, coming face to face with an elderly woman who was wearing a smile on her face.

“What- Who are you?” Younghyun asked, taking a big gulp of air through his mouth.

“I’m Soohyun. I’m the waterbender who helped healing you,” she said, putting a tender hand on his face to check his temperature.

It reminded Younghyun of the way Ahn had touched his face in his dream, making him shudder with disgust. They weren’t lying, though. After all, Younghyun had left his friends in favour of saving himself. They were probably dead by now.

The thought of Ahn and Mina’s emaciated bodies lying on a cold, metal floor at the mercy of those who had done this to them made him vomit all over himself again. Tears stung his eyes as Soohyun helped him out of the light sheet that was covering him to clean up the mess he had made.

“Is he awake?” 

Younghyun looked up to see Dowoon through his blurry vision. He was carrying a steaming pot of water.

“He is. Get him a cup of water and help him get cleaned up while I change these sheets,” Soohyun said.

He didn’t register Dowoon moving until a warm, wooden cup was placed in his hands. He started drinking the water, but as soon as it reached his throat, it reminded Younghyun of the warm blood that had moved its way up his throat when one of the guards had started choking him on his own blood.

He spit the water out, coughing and dropping the cup on his legs. The water seeped through his clothes, but at least it wasn’t hot enough to burn him. 

He let out a sob while Dowoon and Soohyun cleaned up yet another mess that he had made. He had caused his two best friends to die in the most humiliating and painful way possible, and now he was causing trouble to two people who probably already had too many problems to deal with.

He should never have escaped with Wonpil.

* * *

Wonpil tapped his foot nervously as a healer, who had introduced herself as Soohyun, ran the glowing water over his body. He tried hard not to flinch when her hands came into close contact with his skin.

“There’s only so much I can do for your wounds,” Soohyun said after a while You need to rest to let them heal.”   


“You’ve already done enough. Thank you,” Wonpil said, getting up to follow the man who seemed to be the leader of the place.

He led them all -minus Younhyun- to the largest tent in the area. Inside, there was a wooden table in the middle with a map laid out over it. Crosses and circles and pieces of metal were on top of it, indicating several locations on the map.

“Welcome to our camp. I’m Youngmin,” the man who had guided them inside said. “Please take a seat.” He gestured over to the ground.

“So what is this place?” Wonpil asked once they were all settled down.

“This is the main camp for people who have been subject to the atrocities practiced by the Black Diamond and for those who wish to fight them. We’ve been trying to undermine their decades worth of work for a few years now. We train people if necessary and send them on missions, but things are almost never in our favour since no government will help us. Ever since the Avatar disappeared, all the governments have done is try and suppress us. The rampant corruption has just been growing deeper and deeper,” Youngmin paused. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, tell me your story.”

“My brother and I had to move to Ba Sing Se because our villa-” Sungjin started, but he was interrupted by Wonpil jumping in.

“We can hear your sob story later,” he said with an edge to his voice. “There are more important matters we need to address. Younghyun and I were kidnapped by the Black Diamond while collecting information about them in Ba Sing Se. I’ve been researching the Black Diamond for years so I’m aware of what they are capable of, but it was always something that I thought we could defeat, and now I don’t know if I believe that anymore because while I was being held captive I overheard two of their people talking about some people getting a second bending ability.” He paused to catch his breath, looking everyone in the eyes. “Do you even realize what this means? If they can master more than one element then what can stop them from mastering a third and a fourth one? We already know that these people are non-benders who somehow stole someone’s bending for themselves, but they can’t be doing it all on their own! There must be some powerful benders collaborating with them.”

“Are you sure you heard them correctly?” Youngmin asked, looking at him with an unreadable expression.   


“Why would I lie about this, you idiot?” Wonpil said, rolling his tongue in his cheek and letting out an exasperated sigh.

Was this all he could come up with after hearing that the world was potentially about to end? Didn’t he understand the gravity of the situation? Why did he always have to be stuck with idiots? First it was Younghyun and his friends, Mina and Ahn, and now these incompetent imbeciles who thought they were actually helping the wrold.

_ “Please just kill me! I don’t care anymore! Just stop!” _

Wonpil shuddered as the sudden unwelcome screaming tore through his thoughts, echoing in his mind. He curled his toes as a cold sweat broke out on his nape.   


“This is a very serious matter, so we should wait until you are rested and refreshed to talk about it. I’ll get the others to set up a place for you,” Youngmin said.

Wonpil watched everyone get up, his mouth agape.

Why didn’t they understand?

“No, wait!” he protested, but everyone had already gotten out of the tent, leaving him trembling on the ground.

He stood up and followed the others on wobbly legs. No one was going to listen to him at this point.

* * *

The next day, as Sungjin and Dowoon were eating breakfast, an elderly woman approached them.

“Hello! My name is Soohyun,” she said. “I’m the designated healer of the camp as you have seen. I heard that you are also from the Southern Water tribe like me. It’s nice to talk to people from back home after being here for so long,” she said, smiling.

“Wait, you’re a waterbender?” Dowoon asked in an excited voice.

“Yes, I am.”

“Could you be my waterbending master?”

“I could,” Soohyun said, tilting her head. “But how come you want me to teach you? Haven’t you started learning it already?”   


“I- well- it’s complicated,” Dowoon sighed.

“Oh that’s lovely! I love complicated things! Tell me all about it.”   


“Could we talk about it later?” Dowoon fumbled with his fingers, looking down.

“Alright,” Soohyun said after a beat of silence. “Do you want to start from bending techniques or healing?”   


“Healing.”

Soohyun led them both to a nearby stream, despite Sungjin’s protests that he didn’t need to be there. She started a long lecture about energy paths and how they run through the human body, explaining to Dowoon how he could use water to redirect them around the body to heal wounds.

“Now we need to demonstrate it,” Soohyun said, “Sungjin, could you please remove your shirt?”   


“What?”   


“What?”

Sungjin gave Dowoon a horrified look that screamed  _ what the hell did you just get me into. _

“Oh, I just need to show Dowoon where the energy paths are. I won’t do any harm.”

“Please, hyung, didn’t you always want to see me master waterbending?” Dowoon said, making his best puppy eyes at Sungjin who glared at him in response, before sighing in defeat.

“Fine, but please don’t practice your energy thingy on me.”   


“We won’t,” Soohyun said, “it’ll be over before you even know it.”

And it was. Soon Sungjin was left next to the stream to watch Dowoon and Soohyun practice basic moves, with little success. Dowoon looked more and more dejected with each failed move and it hurt Sungjin to see him like that. But at least Dowoon was a bender. He had the potential to learn. Unlike Sungjin who had nothing to add to this mess they had been thrown into.

He shook the thoughts off when Soohyun invited them to have tea with her.

Sungjin watched as she carefully poured the hot liquid in small cups, placing them before them.

“I think you are in need of someone to talk to,” Soohyun started, “and what better way to do it while sharing a cup of tea with an old, wise woman?”

She smiled at their taken aback expressions.

“Why don’t you tell me that complicated story now, Dowoon?” she said.

“Alright. I guess I’ll do it,” he said, catching Sungjin’s eyes, who was looking at him like he had grown horns. “I don’t know how to bend. I’ve never mastered it. My grandfather tried to teach me, but after- after what happened with our parents, I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m happy that I’ve found something that I can do, but it still hurts that I can’t master waterbending to a full extent. It’s like some part of me is missing.”

Soohyun nodded, urging Sungjin to speak.

He avoided her eyes. “I don’t have anything to say.” 

“I’ve seen the way you look at Dowoon when he practices waterbending. You don’t have to hide anything from me or him.”

Sungjin paused for several moments before starting.

“When I think about it, I don’t know how I’m going to help fight them off. I am perfectly capable of using my bare hands to fight, but going against people who have twisted the whole notion of bending into something sinister makes me so scared. I certainly want to help but I don’t know if my help will be enough. I’m just a guy with some weird tools from a small village no one has ever heard of. That's all I got. It's pretty much my whole identity,” Sungjin said, biting his lower lip.

He watched nervously as Soohyun blew her tea.

“I’m an old woman. I know my time is near, but I haven’t lost hope. If anything, it makes me happy to see so many young people here fighting for what’s right. You are going to make a significant impact on the world. It won’t be easy, but I know for a fact that it will happen one day, be it next week or next year or the next decade. And I feel honoured to be able to contribute to this, however small it may seem. You must remember that even the smallest steps towards justice are of utmost importance. It doesn’t matter if you do something as small as giving someone a little bit of hope, because that someone might end up being the person who saves us all.

Never underestimate the impact you can make on the world by looking at your shortcomings. I can teach you how to heal, Dowoon, but there is something holding you back from mastering waterbending that I don’t know. You must find that answer by searching within yourself.

And you, Sungjin, along with many other non-benders, are as valuable to this fight as anyone. If anything, you are its backbone. The majority of people are not benders, so you are the ones who determine the fate of our world by choosing the path to good. And you have done so. Your heart and mind are in the right place.  The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light. Remember this whenever you feel like there is no hope and no point in continuing your mission to restore peace to the world.”

Sungjin looked down at his hands, intertwining them with the hem of his shirt, and gulped audibly. He never thought he would find comfort from a total stranger while sitting around a fire in the middle of nowhere with a war going on.

“I don’t think he’ll remember it, though. He’s too dumb to remember anything that complex,” Dowoon said.

“Hey! I practically raised you!” Sungjin said, letting out a wet laugh with his eyes comically wide. “Is this how you repay me?”   


“Well, you surely didn’t raise me. Grandpa and grandma did, so I’ve got nothing to repay you for,” Dowoon said, scrambling away from Sungjin to avoid getting hit in the head.

“Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights,” Soohyun said, sipping her tea and watching the two brothers bicker with amusement.

“What do you think grandpa and grandma are doing now?” Dowoon asked when Soohyun left to attend to her duties, throwing a stick in the water.

“I don’t know. I don't even want to think about it,” Sungjin said, staring at the trees across the stream, hoping it would help him keep his tears in his eyes.

“Me neither,” Dowoon paused, “does it make us bad people?”

“I don't know,” Sungjin sighed.

The only thing he knew was that he didn’t want to lose more family members. He had come close to losing Dowoon, and he vowed to himself that he wouldn’t let it happen ever again, even at the cost of his own life.

“I want to think it doesn't. No one wants to think about things that cause them pain.”

But it caused Sungjin pain to think about how he wasn’t there to help his own people. That he had left. It also hurt to think about what could have happened if he had left Dowoon alone. Would he be dead? Would Dowoon be dead? No, he didn’t want to think about it. He would never, ever leave Dowoon alone.

“It's just you and me now,” Dowoon whispered.

“Don't say that. We are going to get back to them after all of this is over.”

“Do you really believe that?”

He wanted to.

* * *

Jae was leaning against a tree, resting his head on its trunk as he watched a young boy practice earthbending away from the rest of his group. The boy grunted as he failed the complex move yet another time.

“You are bending out of anger. It works to an extent, but if you want to master your element completely, then your drive needs to come from a place of peace.”

The boy looked at Jae with defiance in his eyes.

“You’re not even an earthbender. How could you know?”   


“Some truths are universal to all elements. That’s what my master used to tell me all the time,” Jae said. “I can’t pretend to know what your struggles are with earthbending, but I can share more of those universal truths with you and you friends if you want.”

The boy hesitated before nodding, and Jae gave him a lopsided smile, patting his back and guiding him towards the rest of the young earthbenders were practicing.

“So what’s your name?”   


“Chenle.”

“That’s a nice name,” Jae hummed.

“Alright kids!” he said, clapping his hands. “Time for a fun lesson on reaching inner peace!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Jae with wide eyes before collectively groaning and mumbling about how Youngmin could have assigned a guy like him to be their master. Jae laughed hysterically in response.   
Jae spent the next two weeks sharing the knowledge that had once been shared with him by the monks with the kids. Some of them were reluctant at first, thinking that an airbender couldn’t possibly understand earthbending, but soon, they all warmed up to Jae, surprised by the amount of knowledge he had.

* * *

A week went by with Younghyun holed up in the tent. He would spend the day wrapped in a blanket, waking up screaming every time he zoned off. He wanted it to end as soon as possible, so one day, he decided to get out of the bedroll and away from everyone despite feeling like he would pass out with every step he took.

Younghyun lay on the ground and closed his eyes, feeling the earth with his hands. A warm feeling spread over him, different to the shaky coldness that had settled in his stomach for more than three weeks. He raised his palms, which had been resting on the ground, and heard small, cool stones gently hover beneath his hands. He stayed like that for another moment, letting himself enjoy the smell of nature before standing up. He took a deep breath and started going through all the basic earthbending motions his parents had taught him when he was young. It was comforting to know that he had complete control over his situation.

That night he had less gruesome nightmares, and the night after, and the one after that. Every day he went to his spot to practice earthbending. As he kicked the piles of dirt away, he imagined they were the nightmares and random memories that would plague him night and day. By the end of the week, his mind felt less of a bowl of molten lava and he could participate in the preparations for the mission.

* * *

Wonpil ran into the tent after having a talk with Youngmin about the strategies of the Black Diamond. He poured himself a cup of water with trembling hands. Every single part of his skin was tingling unpleasantly. A sharp pain soared through his back, making him choke on the water he was drinking. He doubled over in pain, trying to get his breathing under control, but suddenly, all he could feel was hot and cold metal against his skin and a looming figure hovering their hands over his head, seemingly having fun with inflicting pain on him.

“What are you doing?”

Wonpil straightened himself as quickly as he could, placing the cup on the ground and clearing his throat. He caught a glimpse of Jae’s face, who was giving him a weird look, before lowering his head again.   


“Nothing,” he said. “Stop looking at me like that.”

He shouldered his way past Jae, running towards the stream that flowed near their camp site. Wonpil sat down at the banks, letting out a tired sigh before dipping his feet in the water. It was cool and refreshing. It reminded him of the river he used to go to with his father. He looked longingly at the water, wishing for his father to materialize from the small waves and tell him what to do. He had been living on his own for years, but he had never felt this helpless. He didn’t know what was happening to him and it scared him. As if the nightmares weren’t enough, he was now hallucinating in broad daylight and he didn’t know what to do about it. If there was anything he could even do about it.

He could only hope that this was a one off thing.

* * *

Two weeks after their arrival, Youngmin summoned them all to his tent.

“We have a mission for you,” he said, “and you need to start as soon as possible. We wouldn’t normally send people away this soon but there are reports of the Black Diamond occupying Ba Sing Se and the government is collaborating with them.”

Everyone nodded, lips pressed into a line.

“What do we need to do?” Wonpil asked.

“You will travel to here,” Youngmin said, pointing to the far left corner of the Earth Kingdom on the map. “From what we have gathered, there are stones hidden all around the world that contain the essence of bending. They’re not easy to find and you should be extremely careful while handling them. They can interfere with your bending if you happen to release what’s inside them. There is a village near this location, so you could stay there, but be wary of the locals. Some of them might have joined the Black Diamond.”   


“Won’t we look suspicious?” Jae asked.

“You probably will, but you need to figure out a way to convince the locals that you are there to help and not cause harm.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to convince them that we’re just adventure seekers,” Jae said, winking at Wonpil, who rolled his eyes in disgust.

“That’s smart,” Youngmin said. “Since you already know each other, I think it’s a good idea to send you on a mission together.”

“What? Are you kidding?” Wonpil’s mouth went dry. “I think it’s a better idea if we go on solo missions. Some of us aren’t even fit to start fighting the Black Diamond. This is not a child’s game.”

“I appreciate your input, but it has already been decided,” Youngmin said. “If you don’t want to go with them, you are free to drop out at any moment. No one will judge you for it, but beware that we never do solo missions. We need to stick together if we want to defeat the Black Diamond.”   


“Fine,” Wonpil huffed. “I’ll go with them, but if anything goes wrong because of them I won’t take any responsibility for it.”

“We’ll see.”

_ If anything goes wrong because of me I won’t be able to have that on my conscience as well. _

* * *

Jae was busy packing when a small voice coming from the entrance of the small tent he was in interrupted him.

“Jae?”   


He turned around. It was Chenle.

“Yeah?”   


Chenle didn’t say anything and to Jae, he looked quite nervous with how he was fiddling with his shirt.

“Do you need anything?” Jae asked, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at his face. 

“Are you going on a mission?” Chenle finally asked.

“I am,” Jae said hesitantly.

“You’re coming back, right?”   


“Of course I am,” Jae frowned.

“You know, y-you remind me of my older brother.” Chenle looked up at him with tears in his eyes. “He- he always told me about his earthbending training and he would make me meditate with him. He said it would help me learn more easily when the time came, but I hated it because I thought it was boring. But- but then the Black Diamond took him, and when he came back he wasn’t the same anymore. He would just stay in bed all day and stare at the ceiling with that look in his eyes. He wouldn’t talk to anyone. And then one day w-we found him dead in his room. He killed himself.” Chenle wiped his eyes before continuing. “You’re just- you remind me so much of him and I really like you and I wish you didn’t have to go but I know why you have to and- and I hope you’ll come back safe and healthy.”

Chenle stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Jae, burying his face in his chest.

“Thank you for everything you did for us,” he whispered, and if they weren’t in such close proximity Jae wouldn’t have heard him.

“It was a pleasure,” Jae said, blinking away his own tears. “Now stop crying. I will come back and soon enough you’ll be ready to go on your own missions. You’ve improved so much since the first time we met. Back then I thought you were just a rebellious teenager who didn’t want to be here, but I was wrong.”

“You say it like it’s been two years and not two weeks,” Chenle laughed, breaking apart from Jae and wiping his eyes.

“It might as well be,” Jae smiled.

* * *

“This is the route we’ll be following,” Jae said, tracing his finger across the map. “It’s pretty long so we’ll have to stop a few times along the way.”

“There’s a forest over here, so we could camp there tomorrow night,” Sungjin said.

“Sounds good. Hop on!”

“What a genius,” Wonpil mumbled, receiving a dirty look from Dowoon.

They all missed the curious expression on Younghyun’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hate this chapter. so. fucking. much.  



	4. I’m angry at myself.  I’m angrier than ever and I don’t know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> contrary to popular belief, i am, in fact, alive  
so yeah sorry for the 6 month wait?

As soon as they stepped inside the forest, they knew something was amiss. An eerie silence reigned over the whole place, only broken by the sound of their feet crunching the leaves on the ground. Wonpil was hyper alert and every swoosh of clothes made him turn around violently and take a defensive stance.

Jae raised a hand, motioning for them to stop.

“Did you hear that?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Sungjin said, looking around with wide eyes. “I did.”

“What?” Wonpil asked. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“I don’t know, but it sounded like someone walking through the trees.”

As soon as Jae finished his sentence, the leaves rustled and vines descended from the trees surrounding them, twirling their way around their arms and legs. Wonpil tried to wiggle his way out of the vines, but the more he struggled, the tighter they got, making him groan in pain and restricting his movements to the point where he couldn’t firebend his way out. The vines continued growing until he was completely surrounded by them and separated from the others. He tried to shout for them, but a branch wrapped itself around his mouth, making the sound die in his throat. 

Colours exploded in his vision, and he found himself surrounded by a bright blue light. He looked up at the sky, where a red ball of light was starting to spread through the blue light. He lifted his hands to his eyes, curiously examining the fresh cuts and bruises on them. People were sprawled all over the ground and more were trying to run away. Despite the chaos surrounding him, Wonpil couldn’t hear anything. He watched as a black light twisted its way around the beam of blue light and then started coming towards him, mixing with the red light on its way. 

It was beautiful.

“Wonpil! Watch out!”

He was snapped out of his daze by that voice. Suddenly, all sounds came crashing down on him. People were screaming and shouting at each other, over the sizzling sound of the lights that were charging towards Wonpil. He wanted to move, but his legs seemed to be glued to the ground.

He slashed the air in front of his face with his hand, feeling the familiar heat of fire surround him.

The lights didn’t stop.

His vision darkened and his legs felt weak. He fell to his knees, digging the palms of his hands to the ground. He felt the cool and moist morning dew seeping through his fingers and making his pants wet. As he blinked his eyes open, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone was more or less in the same position, but next to him. He wasn’t alone.

“That was the best experience I’ve had in the past ten years,” Jae said, dusting himself off and helping Younghyun off the ground, who was wearing a content smile on his face.

Wonpil’s mouth still felt dry from the fear he had felt and he couldn’t even form a word, yet Jae was speaking about the best experience of his life?

“I didn’t know the Forest of Memories worked like this,” Younghyun said. “But I like it.”

“What’s the Forest of Memories?” Dowoon asked.

“It’s a sacred forest in the Earth Kingdom. Almost no one knows about it outside of the Earth Kingdom because it is forbidden to speak about it with people who have not experienced its visions. We only learn about it through a ritual on our tenth birthday, and then we must not speak about it or the Forest itself will punish us. It has a soul of its own that grants people visions of the past, of those they have lost but wish to see again.”

“So we weren’t hallucinating?” Sungjin asked.

“No,” Younghyun said, shaking his head. “The Forest gives these visions to people who need hope. If someone’s soul is corrupted, though, the Forest only punishes them with horrific visions of their worst memories. What we saw were the memories we cherish the most. The Forest used them to remind us that we are not alone, so we should go on and not give up even though our mission will be dangerous and difficult.”

Wonpil gulped. What he had seen was definitely not a memory of his, or he would have remembered it just because of the sheer amount of emotion that it held. It couldn’t have been someone else’s either because someone had shouted his name and he had clearly heard it.

Did this mean that his soul was corrupted?

He wouldn’t be too surprised if this was true. He had been acting with no regard for others for the past five years. Was that enough to corrupt a soul?

He wanted to ask more questions from Younghyun as they walked through the forest, guided by the vines and gentle chirping of birds, but he didn’t want them to suspect that he was not one of the good guys. They already didn’t trust him. He didn’t need to give them another reason to turn them against him.

“In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we've loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death.”

“That’s amazing!” Jae said.

“That’s… kind of dumb,” Dowoon said.

The vines rattled around even though there was no wind.

“I mean, the part about seeing your lost loved ones is amazing,” he added when Jae and Younghyun sent him a judgemental glare. “But the whole not talking about it thing is kind of… I don’t know. I guess it’s what the spirits want.”

_ It’s what the spirits want _ , Wonpil thought. 

* * *

They walked until they found a small stream and decided to camp on its bank. After gathering wood for fire, Wonpil dropped down on the ground with a heavy sigh, watching Sori happily eat grass, causing the fire to flare up when she burped. Wonpil pressed his lips into a line and as if on cue, his stomach growled loudly.

“So what are we going to eat?” Younghyun asked. It seemed like the telepathic powers of empty stomachs weren’t limited to Wonpil and Sori.

“Fish,” Sungjin said, grinning as he hooked up his equipment. “Fresh fish caught by an expert.”

“And cooked by the best cook around here,” Dowoon piped up from behind Sori and pointed at himself.

“We are going to have a feast. Or shall I say, a feasht!” Sungjin said as he burst into laughter along with Dowoon and Jae.

“That is the worst pun I’ve ever heard,” Wonpil said, yet he found himself smiling despite everything he had on his mind. He rolled his eyes when Jae winked at him in a disgustingly seductive manner.

“Fish?” Younghyun mumbled. “I hate fish.”

“What do you mean you hate fish?” Sungjin asked, horrified. “What do you eat back home then?”

Younghyun shrugged. “Everything except fish.”

“You ate that disgusting stew they gave you at the camp, yet you don’t want to eat fresh fish?” Sungjin gave Younghyun a judging look. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat it. I’ll eat any food as long as it’s edible enough. Doesn’t mean I’ll like it, though.”

“You’re weird,” Jae said.

Dowoon nodded in agreement “Fish is the best food ever.” 

“Have you ever eaten fresh sky bison calf meat?” Younghyun asked with glinting eyes.

Jae gasped and looked at him in horror.

“I haven’t either,” Younghyun said nonchalantly.

“I will skin you alive and feed you to Sori if you say anything like that ever again,” Jae said in a low voice, pointing his finger at Younghyun’s face.

Younghyun laughed nervously and pet Sori’s tail as gently as he could while Jae’s nostrils flared in irritation. Wonpil was about to laugh when he heard a pained scream coming from the forest. He jumped to his feet, kicking his foot forwards involuntarily. There was a swooshing sound and the next thing he knew was that the bushes in front of him were on fire.

“What the fuck Wonpil?” Jae asked, frowning and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Did you-” Wonpil gulped. “Did you hear that?”   


Jae gave him a questioning look. “Hear what?”

Wonpil opened and closed his mouth, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to formulate a sentence. 

“Nevermind,” he said, turning around to bring over some water to put out the fire.

His mind was blank as he walked over to the stream. There were too many thoughts in his head, going back and forth at such a high speed that they cancelled each other out and left him with nothing but static. It took him unnecessarily long to put out the fire as he poured half the water on the ground from how much his body trembled. The fire was finally out, but Wonpil’s nausea was growing by the second and the smell of roasted fish, which had been appetizing just a few minutes before, was absolutely not helping.

After what seemed like a few minutes, Wonpil found himself lying awake in his bedroll, trying to make sense of what was happening to him. The Forest of Memories was clearly trying to tell him something. Maybe it was trying to convince him that he really was a corrupted soul and a bad person. Wonpil knew that he didn’t rank high on the best people in the world list, but up until that moment, he hadn’t thought of himself as truly evil.

Maybe he was.

With that thought in mind, Wonpil felt himself dozing off.

* * *

The wind flowing through his hair seemed to lift Wonpil's body in the air, making him swim through the clouds almost as if he wasn't sitting on a giant flying bison. For the first time since all hell had broken loose in the past few weeks, he felt at peace. He was used to the heat of fire surrounding him and comforting him, but lately, it was causing him more grief than comfort. The fresh air was a nice change he desperately needed.

“I think that’s the village,” Sungjin said.

Wonpil cracked an eye open to see Sungjin pointing at a few vaguely house shaped figures far away.

He yawned.

Suddenly, he was thrown forwards and crashed against Sungjin's back, who almost dropped the map he was holding. He opened his eyes again, but his vision was immediately blurred by tears brought on by the wind. There was a loud thud and Wonpil felt himself being thrown into the air. His insides were doing flips and he suppressed the urge to scream. He didn't realize what was about to happen until his back made impact with the ground and the wind was knocked out of him.

"You- Y-You-" he tried to say, but he coughed instead.

He turned on his back and winced as his forearms pressed into the pebbles on the ground. He tried to inhale, but it was the wrong moment as he inhaled the dust sprinkling off Sori's head as she cleaned herself. He groaned and dragged his feet to stand up, still coughing to get rid of the offensive dust in his lungs.

"Here we are!" Jae said with a smile.

Suddenly, all Wonpil could see was red.

"What the fuck was that stunt?" He charged towards Jae, grabbing him by the collar. "This is supposed to be a stealth mission! You shouldn't announce your arrival to the whole world!"

"Your screaming isn't helping either," Jae said, his annoying smile never wavering.

Wonpil stumbled, almost cowering under Jae's gaze, but he limited himself to kicking a rock nearby.

"Come on guys, don't fight," Dowoon said with a lopsided grin. "We're here to fight the bad guys not among ourselves."

"Exactly," Sungjin said, putting a hand on Jae's and Wonpil's shoulders with a warning glance. "Should we separate and scope out the area before talking to the villagers?"

"Yeah," Jae replied. "Someone should stay here though. To guard our stuff and all."

"I'll stay," Younghyun said, jumping off Sori.

"Great!" Sungjin clapped his hands. "Then Jae, Dowoon and I will explore the area," he said. "Oh and Wonpil, I think you should stay here with Younghyun so not all of us are separated, just in case."

"What-" Wonpil started.

"Cool! Let's go," Dowoon said, racing off in a random direction followed by Jae and Sungjin.

Wonpil scratched his head and looked around. The place was pretty desolate. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the flowing river meandering around the village. It was pretty small, with only a dozen white houses congregated around a flourishing ancient tree. Everything was covered by an orange dust, which hung in the air and made everything hard to see. 

"You know, I'm really glad they left us alone together," Younghyun said after a few minutes of silence.

Wonpil placed another waterskin next to the ones he had already filled. He looked up as he heard Younghyun approach him from behind. On the other bank of the river, a steep hill covered by evergreen trees blocked his view of the sun.

“What do you mean?” Wonpil asked, turning around to face Younghyun, who was standing so close to him he could feel his breath on his face.

“What do I mean?” Younghyun let out a dry laugh. “I've been waiting to catch you alone, but you always seem to manage to avoid me.” He poked a finger in Wonpil's chest. “I think it's time for you to tell me the truth about why you needed my help -and Ahn and Mina's help- to break into that library.”

Wonpil's heart dropped. He gulped.

“It's sensitive information.”

“Do I look like I fucking care?” Younghyun growled, shoving Wonpil into the ground. “I almost died for your fucking sensitive information. My friends are dead because of you!” He took a deep breath. “I think I've earned the right to know, so tell me everything.”

Wonpil shook his head. “I can't.”

“Tell. me.” Younghyun stepped forward, almost panting with a crazed look in his eyes.

Wonpil stood up and dusted himself off. “I said I can't,” he snapped. “What part of ‘I can't’ don't you understand?”

“Why not? Is it because you're working for the Black Diamond? Are you planning on snitching on all of us to steal our powers?”

“No!” Wonpil shouted, feeling his blood boil.

“Then why won't you tell me anything?”

“Because I can't!”

“You dragged me and my friends into this, you owe me an explanation for killing my friends and ruining my life,” Younghyun shouted.

“I saved your life!”

“I wish that you hadn't!” Younghyun shouted, clenching his fists and blinking away the tears in his eyes. “What the fuck was in those scrolls that you decided to run away instead of saving your friends?”

“Who said we were friends?” Wonpil snapped.

“Answer my question!”

Something in Wonpil snapped. “Fine.” He stepped closer. “Do you want an explanation? Fine. I'll give you one.”

“The Avatar is alive. He’s the one who founded the Black Diamond.”

There. It felt so good to get it out of himself.   


“What?” Younghyun laughed, caught off guard. “Don’t be ridiculous.”   


“See, this is why I needed those scrolls to prove this to people. No one would believe a silly little boy from the Fire Nation.”

“But how did you find out?”   


“He- The Avatar killed my father. I managed to escape, but they’ve been on my tail for years now.”   


“So they kidnapped us because of you.” Younghyun’s eyes twitched.   


“Why-”   


“No, let’s talk about that later. Why didn’t you tell us so we could at least be more prepared?”   


“I didn’t know whether I could trust you.”   


“And now you do?”

“Weren’t you the one who wanted the truth?” Wonpil asked, seething inside. “And besides, I had done my research. I had planned everything carefully, but you and your dumb friends ruined it by not knowing how to fucking keep quiet.”

“Don’t you dare talk about them like that,” Younghyun growled and charged at Wonpil, grabbing him by the collar. “The only one who’s to blame here is you, Kim Wonpil. You, and only you.”

Suddenly, they heard footsteps running towards them. “What are you two doing?” Sungjin asked, peeling Younghyun off Wonpil. “This is not the time or the place to be fighting. I can’t believe I have to do this three times a day.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I think I know everything I need to know.” Younghyun dusted himself off. “Why don’t you tell them what you told me?”   


“It- it’s not that important,” Wonpil mumbled, still on the ground.

“Are you serious?” Younghyun asked incredulously. “If we end up getting killed or tortured it will be all on you. And you have no right to throw them into a game without telling them the rules.”

“Now, what-” Jae started, but he was interrupted by Dowoon’s abrupt arrival.

“Guys!” Dowoon said, out of breath. “I found a stone.”

“This early?” Jae asked. “We should definitely check it out.”

“How did you find it?” Wonpil asked.

“It was uncovered.”   


“That’s suspicious. Were there any traps?”   


“I don’t think so.”

“We’ll check it out, but first we need to get to the bottom of this thing between you two,” Sungjin pointed at Younghyun and Wonpil.

Dowoon gave him a puzzled look.

“Come on,” Younghyun said. “Tell them. What, don’t you trust them or do you want them to get killed because of your stupidity?”

Wonpil sighed, looking down at his feet. He was in a dangerous place. Younghyun wouldn’t stop pestering him until he told everyone what he knew. And he probably deserved way more than an annoying companion. So he told them about his father and the Avatar, about how he had come to discover what the Black Diamond had been doing to the world, and most importantly, he told them about the scrolls. He didn’t look anyone in the eye while he was speaking and he only allowed himself a small glance once he was finished talking. Everyone had varying looks of confusion and surprise on their faces.

And no one said anything.

“So,” Dowoon started just when Wonpil was about to scream to break the deafening silence. “You know a lot about the Black Diamond and what they do, right?”   
Wonpil nodded.

“Is that how you knew my name when we first met? I never told you my name.” Dowoon said as Sungjin’s head snapped towards him. “Just… who even are you?”   
“I’m-” Wonpil gulped. “I’m not anyone. Just a regular person thrown into this shit.”

“Then how did you know my name? Are you spying on us and planning to rat us out to those guys?”

“What? No, of course not! I just overheard the guards speaking about some waterbender and I put two and two together when I met you, that’s all there is to it. I’m not a spy.”

“How do we know you’re not lying? You managed to escape after all,” Younghyun said.

“If I were a spy I wouldn’t have escaped with you in tow.”

“I think that’s enough,” Jae said. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I don’t think Wonpil has any ill intentions right now. We can discuss this later. We still need to check out that stone Dowoon found.”   


“Alright, but he’s not coming with us.” Younghyun pointed at Wonpil.

“Come on,” Jae said.

“No, it’s okay. I understand. I’ll just wait for you to come back.”

“Are you going to be alright on your own?” Jae asked.

“Yeah, you don’t need to worry about me,” Wonpil said, already busying himself with the campfire.

* * *

“Do you really trust him?” Sungjin asked as they walked along a muddy path.

Jae sighed. “I mean, I don’t exactly trust him, but I don’t distrust him either. I know that he wouldn’t betray us, though.”

“How can you be so sure about it?”

“Just a hunch.” Jae smiled. “My hunches are never wrong.”

They spent the rest of the walk in silence, pretending not to notice the tears Younghyun was angrily trying to hide. It didn’t take them long to arrive at the place Dowoon had found the stone. There, etched into a rock, was a gemstone, shining with emerald light in the dusk.

“I don’t see any obvious traps,” Sungjin said, inspecting the area.

“And there are no guards around either,” Dowoon said. “But they might get here once it gets dark.”

Dowoon leaned forwards and reached for the stone despite every part of him yelling at him not to do it. The stone, the light, it was all pulsating. It looked alive. The world slowed down around him. The only thing that his eyes could focus on was the stone.

So, so utterly beautiful.

He snapped out of his trance when Sungjin grabbed his wrist.

“Are you crazy?” Sungjin said sharply. “Why would you touch that?”   


“Uh, sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” Dowoon said, giving his brother a sheepish grin.

“Whatever.”

“I think we should go,” Younghyun spoke for the first time since they had left Wonpil. “It’s getting dark. We should really go.”

There was an urgency in his voice that made him sound almost out of breath.

“He’s right,” Sungjin said. “We should come back with a proper plan. We can’t scope out the area in the dark anyway.”

He was about to turn around, ready to trace back his steps when a loud rumble sounded through the air and the ground shot through the air underneath him. 

Sungjin felt Dowoon’s wrist being ripped from his hand. 

He was immediately blinded by the dust in his eyes and deafened by the loud explosions. He was catapulted in the air and hit the ground several times before everything suddenly stopped and he had the wind knocked out of him after being thrown to the ground. Despite the loud ringing in his ears, he could hear screams, but he couldn’t tell where they were coming from. And they sounded like his brother. When he managed to peel his dried out eyes open, the first thing he saw was a familiar diamond shaped ring of fire in the sky.

His heart dropped.

Sungjin blinked and pushed himself up despite the pain coursing through his body. He stumbled and fell against a tree, looking around frantically. He suddenly had the urge to scream as loud as he could, but no sound came out of his mouth no matter how hard he tried.

“Dowoon?” he managed to call out in a raspy voice. “Dowoon? Where are you?”

He turned around on wobbly feet and something shiny caught his eyes. He walked over, falling on his knees where the half buried necklace mocked him with its gleam.

“No,” he whispered, pressing his palms on the cold hard ground. “No, it can’t be.”

Sungjin picked up the necklace with trembling fingers covered in dirt. It was Dowoon’s with no doubt. He would never mistake that necklace anywhere, not when it was the only thing they had left of their home and family.

His throat felt tight, like someone had wrapped their hands around his neck, and shivers ran through his whole body, but he refused to let the tears fall. He didn’t deserve to cry. Not when he had failed to protect his brother once again and let those bastards take him. Would they take Dowoon’s bending away and torture him like they had done to Wonpil and Younghyun and countless other people before them? He choked on air when he realized that he had no idea where they were taking Dowoon and what they were going to do to him.

Or whether he was still alive.

Emotions hit Sungjin hard and fast, and he tried to stop them by furiously wiping the dust off the necklace. He held it close to his chest, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He had to focus. The least he could do for Dowoon was find him before they did anything to him.

There were rushed footsteps behind him and he heard twigs and leaves being crunched.

“Sungjin?” Jae said, covered in dirt, panting and resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Are you okay? What the hell just happened?”   


“He’s gone,” Sungjin said in a flat tone. “They took Dowoon.”


	5. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself.

An explosion broke through the silence, and Sungjin’s hand was ripped away from Dowoon’s wrist. It left a scratch mark. Dowoon felt himself being propelled through the air, and then pulled back by a gust of wind. He hit the ground, sharp pebbles stinging his skin. Someone yanked him up by the collar when he looked back at where he had been a minute before in a daze. His brother was still there.

When the world finally stopped spinning, Dowoon found himself being manhandled towards a carriage bound to three camelhorses.

“Let me go,” Dowoon gritted between his teeth, ignoring how painfully his heart was beating inside his chest.

The man’s grip on his shoulder became stronger. “That’s not for us to decide,” he said, trying to shove Dowoon in a metal cell. “Get in. The more you struggle,” he said, grabbing Dowoon’s arm, “the more difficult this will be for everyone. Don’t force Naraa to use her bloodbending on you.”

Dowoon blanched, and blindly threw a punch, untapping the small bottle of water he had kept hidden in his clothes on Soohyun’s suggestion. But he had only slapped someone with a water whip when his hands and feet were immediately grabbed by several people. They tied his hands together, forcing a single iron glove on them before doing the same thing to his feet and shoving him into the cell. The camelhorses screeched, and Dowoon was flung around the cell. His head was slammed against the wall, and he bumped his knee when he tried to regain balance, sending hot pain up his leg. Once he managed to cramp himself in a seating position with his arms twisting painfully behind his back, he peeked out of the small opening in the cell.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked.

“To meet the Avatar.”

“What?”

The man whipped the camelhorses and Dowoon hit his forehead again.

“But why?” He was going to be sick. “What do you want from me? How did you even find me?”

“Do you think we’re stupid enough to not notice a bunch of idiots arriving on a flying bison?”

The guy did have a point, though he didn’t answer any of his questions after that remark. If they were taking him to the Avatar, then they were the Black Diamond and if they were the Black Diamond, they were the ones who had tried to kidnap him. The same people who had destroyed his home. 

Dowoon leaned his throbbing head against the cold metal. If he died by their hand, he would have _ so many _ regrets. He closed his eyes, , trying to ignore the ache in his body and let exhaustion wash over him.

  
***

Wonpil threw his pouch on the ground, kicking it with full force and clenching his fists as he felt tears gather in his eyes. All of his stuff fell out.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he whispered to himself, shoving everything back in his pouch and closing it aggressively.

They wouldn’t understand. It was sometimes difficult even for himself to understand why he kept acting like that. He felt like something was wrong all the time which kept him on guard all the time and he was so, so tired. He just wanted some downtime to relax and not think about the world. He just wanted to be with his father. It was in moments like this that he missed him the most.

A loud rumble echoing through the air shook Wonpil’s frame, making him scramble up to his feet. A thick layer of dust obstructed his vision. His blood ran cold as he took a few heavy steps towards the direction where the others had disappeared before breaking into a sprint.

This couldn’t be happening again.

More sounds and crashes and screams coming from every direction. Wonpil looked around with wide eyes, coughing his lungs out and shaking, but all he could see was dust painted yellow by the afternoon light. He let out a cry of frustration and ran in their direction again.

He wouldn’t be late this time.

_ “Save us! Wonpil! Please save us!” _ _  
_

_ “Run! Wonpil run!” _ _  
_

The air was getting clear again and he could see the silhouette of a few people in the distance. A stray branch twisted around his ankle, sending him head first to the ground.

“Just a little more,” he whispered, peeling his face off the hundreds of sharp pebbles pressing into his body.

He froze as soon as he was close enough to see them. Younghyun was sitting with his back against a tree, trembling and curled into himself with his head buried in his knees.

He turned around. “What-”

Sungjin looked up at the sound of his voice. Something glinted in his eyes and before Wonpil could react, Sungjin grabbed him by the collar and pressed him against a rock.

“What are you doing?” Wonpil asked, still gasping for breath. 

He flinched as the sharp angles of the rock dug into his flesh.

Sungjin pressed his arm against Wonpil’s throat. “What did you do?” he growled. “Did you lead us here on purpose because you wanted them to take him?”

“I don’t- What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything!” Sungjin shouted, shoving him into the ground.

“Just stop it!” Jae stomped towards them. “Stop it! This,” he said, waving his arms, “isn’t what we should be doing right now. We need to get out of here as fast as we can.”

“But we need to find Dowoon! We need to follow them! What if it’s already late? What if they do something to him?”

“We need a plan. We can’t just-” He took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. “We can’t just blindly dive into this. We’d either be captured or killed or whatever they’re doing to people and we wouldn’t be able to help Dowoon.”

“What happened to him?” Wonpil asked in a quiet voice.

“He was kidnapped by the Black Diamond,” Sungjin spat. “Maybe you can tell us something about that later.”

“But how did they- why-”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

Jae closed his eyes and sighed. “Sungjin, I know you’re worried and angry and sad but you have to stop-”

“He's my family! You don't even know what family means. You were raised by a bunch of random monks!”

“I know what family means, much better than you in fact. I know that family isn’t just the people who brought me into this world. It’s those with whom I share a reciprocal bond that transcends any blood relation between us. I know what choosing your own family feels like. You should learn that too. But we can save that for later. Right now, you just need to-”

“No, he always acts like he knows everything and he’s clearly much more involved in this business than we thought and he’s suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was spying on us for them. What did they promise you to do this?”

Wonpil felt anger boil inside of him. “Why are you all against me?” he asked, standing up to be face to face with Sungjin. “I never did anything to betray you.”

“Maybe if you weren’t such an asshole-”

“All I ever wanted to do was to protect people.”

“It doesn’t really seem like that.”

Wonpil paled. He was right but… why was everything spinning all of a sudden?

He felt hair stand up at the back of his neck as an eerie feeling snaked up in his spine, as if someone was watching him. He turned around, inspecting the dark pathways between the trees, but he was pulled away by Jae before he could make out anything.

“We need to get out of here,” he said in a firm voice. “Then you can scream your heads off as much as you want.”

Jae walked towards Younghyun, touching his shoulder to get his attention. Wonpil was right behind him. He wanted to say something but his tongue was tied.

“Are you ok?” Jae asked, taking a step back when Younghyun slapped his hand away.

He stood up abruptly, steadying himself on the trunk of a tree. “Get away from me,” he snapped.

And all Wonpil could do was watch as they all stumbled back to their little campfire like drunkards.

Jae killed the fire with a swoosh of wind as soon as they were back.

“We need to leave,” he said, throwing all of their stuff on Sori’s back.

“But,” Sungjin choked. “But… Dowoon… We need to find him. We need to go after them.”

“Look,” Jae said, putting a hand on Sungjin’s shoulders. “I understand how you’re feeling right now, believe me, I do. But staying here will only do more harm than good.”

“I’ll go after them alone. You can leave if you want.”

“Are you planning on taking on ten benders with stick swords?” Jae knew it was a low blow, but it was necessary.

Sungjin didn’t say anything, and Jae went on, “We need to act fast to get your brother back, but not without a plan. We _ have to _leave before they capture us too.”

Sungjin took a deep breath and clutched the necklace in his hand. “You’re right. You’re right. We need to go.”

“Get on,” Jae said, jumping on Sori’s back.

Wonpil and Sungjin obliged, but Younghyun didn’t move from his spot. He stared at them blankly.

Jae shook his legs impatiently. “Come on, get on.”

Younghyun seemed to snap out of his daze at his words, and he headed towards them, only to stumble over air. Wonpil jumped down and grabbed Younghyun’s arms to help him up, but he just swatted Wonpil away with a scowl.

“Where are we going?” Sungjin asked.

“To the Leneub cave. It’s not too far from here and it’s safe.”

Sungjin felt part of his anger wash away as the afternoon wind blew over his head. He clutched Dowoon’s necklace hard in his hand, afraid that it would fly away if he loosened his grip. His whole body was shaking, and his thoughts were running so fast that he couldn’t catch up with his own mind. He hadn’t been fair on Wonpil. Wonpil hadn’t been fair on them. No one had been fair on anyone. Maybe they could have avoided this by putting a little trust into each other. He should have been more alert. It was one of the earliest lessons his father had taught him. And now… He was a refugee in his own mind.

The Leneub cave didn’t look as safe as Sungjin had imagined. There were rocks with sharp corners all over its floor and some parts of it looked like they were ready to give away.

“Are you sure this is safe?” he asked Jae, who looked content admiring the dusty orange rocks.

“Of course,” he said. “I’ve hidden here several times to escape from desert pirates.”

“Desert what?” Sungjin shook his head. “Whatever. Now that we’re here, we need to start making our plan. Or my plan, if you don’t want to help me.”

“We do want to help you. Right Wonpil? Younghyun?”

They both nodded, even Younghyun who was facing away from them and staring at the sunset. Sungjin’s heart swelled just a little bit.

“Oh,” Sungjin whispered, “thanks.” He tried to smile, but he only managed to conjure up a weird expression.

“Don’t mention it.” Jae smiled back. “I think right now, we need to go back to Youngmin’s camp. It’s the safest place we could find.”

Sungjin shook his head. “No, the Black Diamond could be following us. I wouldn’t want to lead them to the camp.”

“We can’t stay here, though. Even without considering the Black Diamond, the desert pirates are still a danger to us.”

“We can’t travel on Sori either,” Wonpil said. “It’d make us too visible.”

“What then, do you suggest travelling on foot?” Sungjin snapped, but he immediately deflated.

Even after Wonpil had offered to help him find Dowoon, he still couldn’t bring himself to trust him. At least not completely.

“Look,” Sungjin said, “I think the best thing to do would be to split up. We do need to get the news to Youngmin, but it will take days to get there and by that time Dowoon could be… they could have…” He pushed down the emotions that threatened to spill out of his eyes. “How about this: you go back to the camp, and I’ll go back to the village, pretending to be a lost and abandoned traveller. The inhabitants of the village must know something. I’ll get it out of them.”

Wonpil flashed him a wide eyed look. “We can’t split up. What if something happens to you?”

“Well do you have a better plan?”

“No, but…” Wonpil stammered. “It’s better if I go. I’m a bender and I know the Black Diamond much better.”

“No, Dowoon is _ my _brother. I'm the one who should be rescuing him, no matter what.” Sungjin threw a rock outside the cave. “And you would just raise suspicion with your random fire outbursts. They would be more likely to feel sorry for a helpless non bender abandoned by his friends.”

“I suppose if that’s what he wants to do then we should let him do it,” Jae said.

“But he-” Wonpil raised his voice, then let out a resigned sigh. “Fine. Do what you want.”

“I’ll leave in a few hours.” He really wanted to leave right then, but that wouldn’t help Dowoon if he got captured by the same guys still roaming around for them.

“You should leave for the camp as soon as possible. Don’t worry about me.”

“We’ll stay until things calm down a bit,” Jae said. “Although…” He glanced at Wonpil. “You’re right about Sori, but I can’t leave without her, so you and Younghyun should go back to the camp on your own. I’ll try to stay low and catch up.”

“It’ll take us days if not weeks,” Wonpil said. “It’s a stupid idea. And _ he _ wouldn’t want to come with me. Am I right?” 

Younghyun didn’t turn around. “I don’t really care anymore,” he mumbled.

“You could always borrow a couple of camelhorses,” Jae said.

“Borrow? From who?”

“The desert pirates.”

“Are you out of your mind? That would attract even more attention to us! They fucking hate anyone who doesn’t belong to their tribe.”

“We will negotiate.”

“How? By blowing them up?”

“Pretty much.” Jae shrugged. “Even though I’m an air nomad trained to detach myself from such trivial matters, I still feel the need to get my revenge.”

“Great. Good for you,” Sungjin said, already standing up. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Be careful,” Jae said.

“Yeah.”

Sungjin didn’t turn around, but he could hear Wonpil scrambling to his feet.

“Wait stop!” Wonpil shouted. “Stay here. What if something happens?”

Sungjin didn’t stop walking.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

Sungjin only stopped when Jae and Wonpil were out of earshot and the chilly air surrounded him completely. He looked up to the sky. The moon was nothing more than a slim crescent, which meant that there would be a new moon in a couple of days and Dowoon’s powers would be at their weakest and he would have a hard time defending himself. Sungjin tore his eyes away from the moon and looked at his bruised and trembling hands. Dowoon’s bending hadn’t always been that erratic. It was normal before they’re parents died and then…

Sungjin shook his head. He didn’t like to remember that day. Especially when it would cause every emotion that he had bottled up in the past hour to spill like overflowing water. 

He let a few tears escape his eyes despite himself, but he wiped them aggressively. He didn’t have the right to cry when he had let his brother be taken away by the very people he was trying to protect him from. He had failed himself and his grandparents. 

If they were still alive.

He lay on the ground staring at the stars for a while before he headed back to the cave. The others had already put the fire out and they seemed to be asleep. Sungjin was suddenly aware of how heavy his eyes were, but he couldn’t sleep in a situation like that. He had to keep guard in case something happened. The others needed to rest to be able to use their bending to the best of their abilities. Besides, they didn’t need time to prepare their weapons like Sungjin did.

He sat down next to Sori, who grumbled in her sleep.

He sighed. “Yeah, me too.”

Just as Sungjin was getting used to the silence, Wonpil gasped, making him jump a little and drop the dagger he was sharpening. He heard Wonpil toss around on the ground. He still seemed to be asleep. A few gasps and tosses and turns later, Sungjin decided to nudge him with his foot.

“Hey, wake up,” Sungjin murmured.

Startled, Wonpil sat up. “Sungjin?” he whispered.

“What?”

Wonpil didn’t answer, but Sungjin heard him shuffle closer until he could see his face in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry about Dowoon.”

Sungjin wasn’t used to hearing his voice like that. And what was with the sudden show of sensitivity?

“But I promise we’ll find him.”

“Yeah, I know.”

_ I hope. _

“Do you want to,” Wonpil said, “tell me a bit about him?”

Sungjin hesitated for a moment. He didn’t trust himself to say a word about his brother without breaking into sobs, and once he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Were you having a nightmare?” he asked instead

Wonpil seemed to get the message. “Yeah, I was.”

Sungjin hummed and kept on sharpening the same dagger that didn’t even need sharpening. They sat in silence until Wonpil spoke up again.

“It was about my dad,” he said quietly.

“Oh? What happened in your dream?”

“It was the day he died.”

Sungjin looked at Wonpil for a second before bowing his head again. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago, but it’s still… It still hurts so much,” Wonpil said. “My mom went missing when I was eight. My dad never told me what exactly happened that day, but I figured something suspicious was involved.”

_ I was also eight the day the bomb went off. _

“We lived in relative peace and happiness for years. We travelled around the fire nation. My dad never seemed to like staying in one place for too long. I didn’t understand back then, but I do now. It hurts too much to stay put and get attached to a place. But even back then, everything was okay. My dad taught me fishing, hunting, cooking, basically how to take care of myself, but most importantly, he was my firebending master. He’s the most powerful and graceful firebender I have ever seen, but even he didn’t stand a chance against the Black Diamond agents.”

Sungjin looked at Wonpil in confusion. He didn’t understand why Wonpil was telling him all of this all of a sudden. He was genuinely curious about his story and he wanted to ask more, but it wasn’t his place to do so. Yet, something came over him and he actually did.

“Why did they kill him?” 

Wonpil dropped his head and Sungjin regretted the words that had left his mouth almost immediately.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

Wonpil stared into space for several minutes.

“I still don’t understand how, but some shaman told them that his descendents would be the next Avatar. I’m obviously not the Avatar, so it would be either one of my children or grandchildren, if I ever have any. It doesn't even make any sense. The current Avatar is a waterbender. The next one will be an earthbender.”

Sungjin stared at him. This boy was full of surprises. Was he even telling the truth? It was crazy. Sungjin was no expert, but he was pretty sure no one knew who the Avatar would be until the spirit reincarnated in a new body.

“My dad died to protect me from them. They wanted to kill me. I just don’t understand _ why, _” Wonpil said in a small voice. “Then they offered me a prestigious place in their gang. As if I would join the same people who tore my family apart.” He sighed. “But now… I can’t see the difference between myself and the Black Diamond anymore.”

“I’ve done so many things… bad things…”

“But I just- I'm so scared and I miss my parents so much. I wish the world could be normal for even one second.”

“I miss my parents, too,” Sungjin whispered. “Dowoon is probably the only family I have left by now. I don’t even know if my grandparents are alive.”

Wonpil laughed bitterly. “I guess we have more in common than I thought. It’s not what I was hoping to bond over, but I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“It’s not that uncommon to lose a parent.”

“But it doesn’t make it hurt any less,” Wonpil snapped. Then he sighed and lay back down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry.” He paused. “I know I’ve been treating you all like shit and I’ve been really rude, but it’s just- I don’t- Because-”

Sungjin stopped sharpening his dagger and looked up.

“I don’t trust myself anymore. It feels like I’ve become exactly what my father didn’t want me to become. I feel like I’ve wasted the chance he gave me by dying to protect me. He would be so disappointed if he could see where I am now.”

After a few moments of silence, Sungjin said, “You might be an asshole, but you’re not _ that _ bad. Jae thinks your heart is in the right place, and I agree with him.” 

“You think so?”

“I do. And I’m sorry for yelling at you back there.”

“It’s alright. I understand.”

Sungjin nodded. “Maybe,” Sungjin said, “in the future, after we have left all of this behind us, we could be friends so none of us would be alone anymore.”

“I hope so.”

They lay in silence until sunrise.

  
  
***  
  
  


The Avatar looked like a normal elderly man. If Dowoon didn’t know any better, he might have mistaken him for being a loving grandfather. Actually, he _ did _ remind Dowoon of his own grandfather. It was weird. He would have imagined a person like that to be covered in tattoos and combat clothing. Instead, he was wearing the most elegant water tribe robes he had ever lay his eyes on.

“Welcome to my home, Dowoon.” He smiled. Dowoon tensed. “I have been waiting so long to see you! You really do look like your parents, just like I imagined. Come, you must be tired and hungry from all the travelling. I prepared all the traditional water tribe dishes just for you,” he said, putting a hand on Dowoon’s shoulders and leading him to a cosy looking dining room.

On top of a huge wooden table in the middle of the room was enough food to feed a family of five for five days straight. In his stupor, he let the Avatar lead him to the table. Despite the growling of his stomach, he didn’t touch any of the food. Who knew what the Avatar had in mind. Poison? Weird spiritual potions? 

Dowoon was expecting to be put inside a prison cell and tortured like Younghyun and Wonpil. They never talked about what exactly had happened, but Dowoon had seen their scars and heard their screams in the middle of the night. Instead of that, he was getting a feast. It didn’t make any sense.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

Dowoon jumped. “I’ll pass.” He didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. He felt nauseous even at the smell of the food.

The Avatar shook his head as he devoured his penguin egg soup. “You’re missing out. I had this prepared especially for you. But I don’t want to force you to do anything.”

“Then why did you kidnap me?”

“_I _ didn’t do any of that. I merely placed the orders. My people obeyed me out of their own free will.”

Dowoon glanced at the guards standing by the door. They seemed relaxed, but alert and stoic at the same time. Whoever this guy was, he was obviously very smart. He needed to understand where he was and what these people wanted from him before he attempted to escape, although the urge to just bolt out of the room into whatever there was outside was very strong.

_ ‘Get to know your enemies before attacking,’ _ Sungjin always said.

Dowoon cleared his throat. “May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Are you… really Avatar Ozerol?”

“Of course I am. I thought your friend already told you. I must say, he is a smart and sneaky young man. I never thought he would manage to escape from me for so long. But, that’s a story for another day. I’ll have someone escort you to your room. We can talk tomorrow morning when you’re rested.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Dowoon insisted.

“Don’t you trust your friend?” Ozerol asked. Dowoon stared at him in silence. “I see. Distrust between members of the same group can be very destructive. Your enemies could, and will, use it against you.”

“If you really are the Avatar, then prove it to me.”

“Isn’t my word of honour enough for you?”

“I don’t know. You could be an impostor. One of those fake benders.”

“I have no business proving to an insignificant peasant like you that I am the Avatar.” Dowoon’s eyes widened as Ozerol’s started glowing. “But I will not hesitate to unleash my powers on those who I consider to be wrongdoers,” he said, in a voice that sounded like the aggregation of thousands of voices, ancient ones coming from the spirit world itself.

A chill ran down Dowoon’s spine as the same two guards escorted him to a room with no windows and locked the door when they left. It looked like the inside of an earth kingdom house, with all the green and brown furniture. There was, however, something unsettling about the way blue swirls of paint were mixed into the walls.

Dowoon looked around. There was a change of clothes on the bed, and next to it was a shelf filled with trinkets that covered the whole wall. It was actually kind of nice. Rubbing the back of his neck, he walked towards the bed, but stopped in his tracks when he realized that the familiar roughness of his necklace wasn't there.

“No…” He patted his clothes, hoping to find it in his pockets. “But I had it with me…”

Tears gathered in his eyes and he lowered himself to the ground, along with the wall of logic and level-headedness he had put up in front of the Avatar.

“What is Sungjin doing right now?” he whispered to himself.

Knowing his brother, he was probably worrying himself to death and already planning a one man raid into the headquarters of the Black Diamond. He shuddered. Even though Sungjin had spent weeks trying to convince him that none of anything that had happened to them was his fault, a small shred of guilt always remained at the very back of his mind. He would never forgive himself if something happened to Sungjin because of him. He didn’t think he would be able to live with himself. He knew Sungjin wouldn’t stay put, though. He would come for him. And despite the worry twirling in his stomach, some part of him _ wanted _ Sungjin to come and rescue him.

When he finally managed to peel himself off the floor, he flopped onto the bed and curled into himself. The Avatar’s words about having to talk echoed in his mind all night. It didn’t make any sense. Ozerol was the Avatar. He was a symbol of balance and hope. It was his duty to protect life in all its forms, yet he was terrorizing the very people the spirits had vowed to defend against the evil.

But the Avatar had _ become _the evil.

“And for what?” Dowoon asked the birds painted on the ceiling. “What is he even trying to achieve? What do I have to do with all of this?”

He huffed and turned to his side. He hoped he would at least get out of it alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(


	6. We could have been friends.

“Help!” Sungjin gasped, falling to his knees in front of a small wooden house. “Please, help me!”

He coughed and pushed his palms into the dirt. Only when he heard footsteps running towards him did he try to stand up. With a bloodied and scratched arm, he grabbed onto a wall and pushed himself up swaying on his feet.

“Who are you?” A gruff voice asked as calloused hands clutched his shoulders.

Sungjin glanced at the man before grabbing his arms. “They left me,” he said, his whole body shaking. “They left me and I don’t… I don’t…”

His voice trailed off as he let his body fall limp into the stranger’s grasp. With his eyes closed, Sungjin had to pay extra attention to what the villagers were saying, all while being careful not to give away the fact that he was awake. It wasn’t too hard, though. He was used to multitasking.

“Who is this guy?” The same man asked before letting Sungjin drop to the ground.

Something dislodged itself in his chest, and it took all of Sungjin’s willpower not to scream in pain. He must have broken a rib when he had flung himself down that cliff.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Did you see him arrive?”

“No, sir.”

The man hummed. “Take him to the infirmary. I’ll figure out what to do with him once he’s awake.”

“Yes sir.”

Sungjin felt himself being hoisted up by two people, one of them grabbing him by the shoulder and the other one by his legs. His head hit something as they dropped him off into a bed, and he couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped him as blood trickled down his neck. It was a good moment to pretend to wake up anyway.

“How are you feeling?” a guy asked when he opened his eyes.

Sungjin rubbed his forehead. “My head hurts.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. It was totally his fault,” he said, pointing to the other guy.

“Hey, you were the one who threw him on the bed like a sack of potatoes!”

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman stepped into the room.

“Please get out of here,” she said.

“Right, sorry,” the guy said, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, we’ll leave you alone now, sorry. Bye!”

The woman sighed. “These two idiots are going to be the end of me.” She shook her head. “Now, let’s see. What’s your name?”

Sungjin hesitated for a moment. “Lee. My name’s Lee.”

She gave him a knowing look. “Alright… Lee, I’m Soojin. What happened to you?” 

Sungjin fiddled with his fingers. “Well, I was travelling with some… friends.” He let out a dry laugh. “I don’t think I can call them friends anymore. But anyway, they left me. They robbed me, beat me up, and left me to die in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know how I managed to find your village, but I’m really glad I did. I thought I was going to die out there.”

Soojin’s eyes narrowed to crinkled slits and Sungjin gulped audibly. “Why?” She asked, shifting so she was sitting closer to him. “Why would they suddenly turn on you?”

Sungjin’s head hung low. “Honestly, I don’t know.” He flinched when Soojin pressed a bandage against his bleeding head. “We grew up together, and we left our village together after it got flooded by a dam built to serve a nearby factory. I guess they saw me as expendable. I was the easiest target since I have no family left to look for me.”

Soojin’s expression softened. “Hold this against your head. What else hurts?”

“My ribs.”

“Let’s see,” Soojin said, pressing her hands against Sungjin’s chest.

Sungjin flinched and started to cough. “Stop, stop, it hurts.”

“They’re definitely broken.” Her lips were pressed in a thin line. “Unfortunately, there’s only so much I can do for you besides giving you a pain relieving potion, but with a few days of rest, you should be well enough to be on your feet again.”

“Thank you,” Sungjin whispered.

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Soojin said absentmindedly as she searched through a drawer and picked out a vial filled with green liquid. “Here, take five drops of this every-”

She was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open, revealing a short, muscular, familiar-looking man with raised eyebrows. He stomped towards Sungjin with his hands on his hips, his steps shaking the whole building.

“Excuse me, Soojin, am I interrupting anything?” he asked with a lopsided smile.

Soojin looked extremely unimpressed. “Why yes, you are.”

“That’s unfortunate,” the man said. “But I need to talk to this kid.”

Sungjin looked at him with wide eyes, trying not to let anything transpire from his gaze. Then it clicked. It was the man he had passed out on a few minutes earlier. He dropped his head immediately. The guy didn’t look like he was the type to have friendly discussions with strangers that pretended to pass out on him.

“It’s not a good time to interrogate him, Minhyun,” Soojin said. “I’ve already given him the pain relieving potion. He’ll be drowsy any minute now.”

The man -Minhyun- huffed. “Fine,” he said, “but don’t try to pull another one of your stunts. I won’t hold back this time.”

Soojin rolled her eyes as she fiddled with the vial in her hands. “Don’t worry, I’m already past that stage.”

“Great. I’ll leave you alone then,” Minhyun said, walking towards the door. “But I’m coming back tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Soojin said.

Sungjin gave her a curious look. “You haven’t given me the potion yet,” he said when he was sure that Minhyun was out of earshot.

“I am perfectly aware of that.” Soojin handed him the vial. “And you should thank me for that. You don’t seem stupid, but I should warn you that talking too much around here might land you in some serious trouble.”

Sungjin perked up. “What do you mean?”

Soojin shook her head and treated the rest of his wounds silently. Sungjin eyed her curiously. If his guess was right, then the village was under the Black Diamond’s control and Soojin’s attitude might be a ploy to get him to confess his real intentions. If anything, they could already know who he was and what he was doing there and they were trying to keep him there so they could do whatever they did to people like him.

Sungjin was pulled out of his musings by Soojin handing him the vial.

“Drink five drops of this.”

Sungjin obeyed. He coughed at the bitter taste, but after a few moments, he started to feel drowsy and he struggled to keep his eyes open. The last thing he saw before falling asleep was Soojin’s pensive face.

* * *

“What are you doing here?” A guard asked, making Dowoon jump into the air.

“I was walking,” he said, trying not to look like he had been caught red handed.

The guard looked quite familiar.

“How dare you, you insolent little brat,” he said as he stomped towards Dowoon.

It was the same man who had captured him. Dowoon felt a pool of resentment overflow in his stomach.

“Oh, I apologize.” He gave the man a dry smile. “I didn’t realize I needed to ask for permission to go for a walk.”

He huffed. “What an idiot. Come, the Avatar wants to see you.” He beckoned Dowoon towards a door.

They walked the same way they had the night before, with the guard mumbling under his breath the whole time. Everything was still dark, only illuminated by small torches placed across the walls. There were no windows, so Dowoon inferred that they were most likely underground. Still, he only bothered to pay enough attention to where he was being taken. He had no energy left to decipher the symbolism of the twirls painted on the walls. He hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep the night before after all. Despite everything, an escape plan was starting to form in his mind with Sungjin’s voice.

Speaking of which, what the fuck would Sungjin do if he were there?

_ Step one: observe your surroundings. Look for weak points. Any small detail might come in handy. _

Which was what he had been doing until the guard interrupted him.

_ Step two: observe how the people interact with each other. Find out whether they are reluctant or not. Find the weakest link. _

They all looked like brainwashed idiots.

_ Step three: observe the guard’s turns. _

That one wasn’t too hard.

_ Step four: make them trust you as much as possible. Get as much information as you can out of them. _

That one was too hard.

_ Step five: plan a route and get out. Alternatively, wait for someone to get you out. Try not to die in the meantime. _

That one might be harder.

Dowoon was shoved into a seat in front of the Avatar, who was sitting on the other side of the unnecessarily long table loaded with various assortments of food. Dowoon’s stomach was still tied in knots and he had the feeling they wouldn’t come undone so long as he was a prisoner.

“Good morning, Dowoon,” Ozerol said. “Did you sleep well?”

Dowoon folded his hands over his lap. “Not really.”

Ozerol hummed and shook his head. “Well, that’s certainly a shame. I hope that isn’t the case in the following nights.”

Dowoon wished there would be _ no _ following nights with him.

“You should eat something before we speak.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t eat anything last night either.”

Dowoon didn’t respond and kept his eyes trained on the pieces of cutlery in front of him.

“I see.”

Ozerol’s chair made a screeching sound as he stood up and walked towards Dowoon’s side of the table, keeping his penetrating gaze on him. As Ozerol approached him, Dowoon could physically feel the sassiness from earlier draining from his body to be replaced with the slightly claustrophobic sensation of being in the presence of someone very, very powerful and sinister. He shuddered as Ozerol placed a hand on his shoulder. It was calloused, just like his grandfather’s hands, but it lacked any of the warmth. Dowoon shuddered, but the hand kept him pinned to his seat with an almost imperceptible pressure.

“Dowoon, look at me,” Ozerol said. “I have something very important to tell you. You must promise to listen carefully and not interrupt me as I speak. I will give you the chance to ask questions once I’m done. Is that alright?”

“Yes.” 

It wasn’t like Dowoon had any choice or say in this. 

“Excellent!” Ozerol smiled as he kept a firm grip on Dowoon’s shoulder. “I’m certain you have heard about the Black Diamond, haven’t you?” Dowoon nodded even though it was a rhetorical question. “And you know that I, the Avatar, am their leader. Our methods might seem slightly brutal and cruel at first sight, but I assure you, that is just an erroneous impression. In the end, as the Avatar, my sole desire is to bring balance to the world, and if doing so provides for unconventional methods to be used, then so be it. It is my duty to bring balance to the world and I will do whatever it takes to achieve this goal.”

Ozerol scrutinized Dowoon’s eyes, searching for something hidden and powerful. Dowoon squirmed under his gaze, but he didn’t look away.

“You, Dowoon, are a vital part of my project. You possess such raw power… it is incredible. I know you have trouble controlling your bending, but with my help, you will become the greatest waterbenders in the world, just like your mother. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? To be able to live up to her name?” Ozerol cracked a smile. “Well now you have the chance. I know we started off the wrong foot, but it was a necessary measure to bring you here.”

“Was burning down my whole village a necessary measure as well?” Dowoon blurted out, and immediately slapped a metaphorical hand over his mouth as Ozerol’s grip on his shoulder tightened painfully.

“Do not interrupt me, boy,” Ozerol said. “You will get the chance to speak when I’m done.” He gave Dowoon a sharp look. “As I was saying, I want you to join me. You will be a valuable asset to my team.” He paused. “You may speak now.”

Dowoon’s mouth snapped open and closed a few times before he was able to formulate a response. “_Why _ would I join you?”

Ozerol gave him a knowing smile. “Because I am the only person who can teach you to control your bending, just like I did to your mother.”

“How did you even know her?” Dowoon blanched as realization hit him like cold water. “Wait, you…”

Ozerol’s smile remained plastered on his face as Dowoon stared at him with wide eyes. He only wished he could rip it off his face and feed it to him.

“You were saying?” Ozerol said.

“Were you the one who planted the bomb that killed my parents?” Dowoon asked with rage coursing through his veins. “Was it one of your other necessary measures?”

Ozerol shook his head. “No, Dowoon, I didn’t _ plant _ anything, nor did any of my collaborators. In fact, I was devastated when I heard the news. Your mother was my best pupil.”

Dowoon’s grip on the chair was turning his knuckles white. “No, I’m not buying any of this bullshit,” he said. “You’re probably just waiting to harvest my bending, so go ahead. You already have me in your den.”

“I am not responsible for the death of your parents, Dowoon. And I don’t think you understood anything of what I just told you. I want you to be powerful. If I wanted to harvest your bending, I would have already done it. However, don’t make me resort to extreme measures. You know very well what I’m capable of doing with a flick of a wrist.”

“I don’t care,” Dowoon said through gritted teeth. “I won’t join you no matter what you say. I have no reason to. I only know a fraction of the horrible things you’ve done, but it’s enough to convince me to stay away from you.”

“Actually, you do have a very good reason to join me.” Ozerol cocked his head to the side with a bemused expression. “Don’t you realize that you have something, or rather _ someone _, very special to protect?”

Dowoon’s eyes widened in fear.

“I thought so.” Ozerol smiled. “Haven’t you always wanted to protect your brother like he has always protected you, especially after your parents died? He is the only person who could truly understand you after the incident.”

Dowoon’s expression faltered for a moment. “We… We had our grandparents. And the whole village. Before your men burnt it down.”

“No, you only had each other. Your brother was the only one who could understand your pain and, even at such a young age, he sought to protect you from further pain, despite the fact that you were responsible for your parents’ death.”

“No, no, no, that is not true.” Dowoon shook his head. “No, no one ever blamed me, not Sungjin, not our grandparents. It was an accident, and it happened a long time ago. Everyone has accepted it and moved on.”

“Have they really?” Ozerol raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you remember how miserable your brother was after their death?”

“He was just a child.” Dowoon interrupted. “It was a normal reaction.”

“He never really got over it,” Ozerol continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Which is why he’s so protective of you. He’s afraid of losing what is left of his family.”

Dowoon let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, I don’t know what you’re getting at, but my brother and I never once fought because of this. And yeah, maybe we’re not really over it, but at least we’re dealing with it and your stories- they’re- you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do,” Ozerol said with a wave of a hand. “I’m very good at reading people, even from afar, which is why I know your brother is probably on his way to do something incredibly stupid, which brings us to our initial point: you want to protect him.” Ozerol shifted to look Dowoon directly in the eyes. “You will join me and become powerful enough to protect your brother, or I will make him suffer through you.”

“You’re playing mind games.” Dowoon squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m not falling for it.”

“Oh, no, I’m merely stating the truth,” Ozerol said. “There is a lot of truth to be unpacked since you’re being so difficult. Don’t you want to know what _ really _happened to your parents?”

“I already know that,” Dowoon said, gripping the armrest of his chair.

Ozerol shook his head and turned around, never once lifting his hand from Dowoon’s shoulder. “Guard, please escort him to his quarters.”

Dowoon sagged in relief when Ozerol finally took his hand off his shoulder, but he was immediately yanked up by the same guard who had brought him in there.

Ozerol looked him in the eyes as his figure loomed over Dowoon. “Stay in your quarters until further notice,” he said. “Don’t go walking around, I have eyes and ears everywhere. I will send someone to bring you your meals. We will continue our discussion tomorrow.” He paused and cracked a smile. “I still have much to tell you.”

Dowoon shivered despite himself. He knew everything there was to know. Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe the Black Diamond really had killed his parents. Maybe they had been after _ him _ all along. They would kill him once they obtained what they were looking for. And nothing was stopping them from doing the same thing to Sungjin.

No, Dowoon wouldn’t let it happen. At least one of them was supposed to come out of this alive and if it was Sungjin, then so be it. He had already suffered enough because of Dowoon. Maybe, this one time, he could actually protect his brother instead of causing him more trouble.

But what would become of Wonpil and Younghyun? They would be sorely punished for stealing from the Avatar. Jae as well, who had helped them evade. Maybe it was all his fault. Maybe it was him who had set off this chain of dominoes toppling one after another.

Dowoon forced himself to snap out of it and shook his head. He was playing into Ozerol’s mind games. This was exactly what he wanted. Dowoon would never give in to him.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

Younghyun jumped at Wonpil’s question. They had been walking for hours, and this was the first time either of them had said anything to each other. Walking on a narrow cliffside with a river down below filled with jagged rocks tended to stifle any desire for socialization right out of Younghyun. Either way, he wasn’t about to make small talk with Wonpil of all people about how beautiful the cloudy turquoise water beneath them was.

“I mean,” Wonpil continued after it became clear that Younghyun wouldn’t answer. “Did you get hurt when they attacked?”

Younghyun glanced at Wonpil for a moment before giving him a tight lipped response, “No.”

Wonpil fiddled with his fingers and cast a look over to the side of the cliff. The passage was only wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side safely. He opened his mouth to say something, but he stumbled to a halt and whipped his head around, eyes narrowing.

“Did you hear that?” he whispered.

Younghyun stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Hear what?”

“I think someone is following us,” Wonpil said, putting a finger on his mouth to urge Younghyun to be quiet.

For a few seconds, all he could hear was the sound of water flowing in the river with the occasional howl from an animal in the forest below them. Then he heard it.

It was so subtle it could easily blend into the sounds of nature, like a snake crawling through the dirt, but there was something too unnatural about the way the sound striked through the air. Younghyun caught a glimpse of a moving shadow around the corner. Without having to think much, he placed his hands on the side of the cliff and sent a mass of rocks down between them and whoever was on their tail. Some muffled shouting ensued. Younghyun grabbed Wonpil’s arm and yanked both of them inside an opening in the cliff, sealing them both inside. The passage from constantly hearing the sound of flowing water in the background and having the sun in his eyes to complete silence and pitch black darkness was jarring to Younghyun. He could only hear the sound of his heartbeat and rushing blood in his ears, so he stretched his hands to his sides and touched the cold rock to give himself a sense of space. He took a deep breath, but the air was damp and the dust tickled his nose.

“What the fuck?” Wonpil almost shouted, shoving Younghyun back. “Why did you- Get us out of here!”

Younghyun felt his eyes twitch in annoyance. “If I get us out of here, then we’ll have to face those guys,” he said, “who are the same people who _ tortured _ us and killed my friends.”

“I don’t care what they _ did _. They’ll ambush us in here,” Wonpil said, poking a finger in Younghyun’s chest. “We could fight them outside!”

“No.” Younghyun swatted Wonpil’s hand away. “I can get us out of here. Learn to deal with it when things don’t go your way.”

“This isn’t about me or your stupid grudge.” Wonpil paused and exhaled slowly. “I just want to get out of here alive, alright?” he said, voice tinged with a hint of desperation.

“I can manage that much,” Younghyun grumbled and turned around. “Come on.”

He heard Wonpil sigh, and a moment later, a flicker of fire illuminated the cave he had created. Shadows started dancing on the rocks surrounding them. Younghyun planted his foot on the ground and pushed forward with his hands. The rocks parted with a loud grumble. He moved forward and repeated the same sequence of moves again and again, until his body was aching in exhaustion. To be completely honest, he didn’t like being in there either. It was hard to breathe and even with Wonpil’s little flame dancing in his hands, it was too dark for his liking. He almost felt grateful that Wonpil was there with him because he didn’t like the idea of dying alone much. No one did, not even Wonpil who always preferred to be left alone to do his own thing. Maybe he could trap Wonpil in the rocks and leave him to die a slow and painful death, all alone, just like his friends.

But that would go against every value his parents and his friends had instilled in him. Granted, what he was doing before he got captured wasn’t exactly a prime example of what he’d been taught, but still, to let a person die for his own revenge? He couldn’t go that far, no matter how much he hated him. In fact, Younghyun hated Wonpil so much that he couldn’t even feel it anymore. The hatred had become a part of him, a gross one, sticky with dirty molasse dripping off of it.

He missed being untainted. He missed not having to worry about money or where his next meal would come from. He missed not having to fear for his life with every step he took.

“Hey, Younghyun?” Wonpil said in a voice that was too soft to be his.

“What?” he said through his teeth.

“I…” The fire flickered. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Younghyun didn’t bother to answer or even look at Wonpil. He didn’t need another moral dilemma, so he pushed against the rocks harder and harder. This time, Wonpil seemed to have gotten the message, as he didn’t insist on continuing to speak like he always did.

For a few minutes at least.

“And also,” he said, taking a huge gulp of air, “also for your friends.” Younghyun felt blood drain from his face more and more with each word. The fire dimmed in Wonpil’s hands.

“If I could go back…” Wonpil’s voice sounded tight. “If- I would try really really hard to save them. And you.” He laughed nervously. “Actually, I would’ve told you from the start what I was getting you into. That would only be fair, right? Maybe then you would’ve refused, and they wouldn’t be dead and you wouldn’t be stuck with me here in a fucking cliff. Do you believe it? We are _ inside _a cliff. Not on top of it or on the side, but-”

“Wonpil,” Younghyun interrupted. He closed his eyes, stomped his foot on the ground and pushed aside another wall of rocks. “Just… stop this.” He took a long breath to measure his words. “This is the last thing I want to hear you talk about.” More rocks pushed aside. If he turned around, he would have seen Wonpil’s pale face and trembling hands. “And you’re not helping. Don’t apologize. Just… don’t, alright? It only makes things more complicated than they have to be.” He paused, then continued, “I don’t know. I don’t _ care _. I just don’t know how I feel about you, so just stop it.”

He continued to earthbend in silence while the fire flickered dangerously in and out of life.

“Don’t show me your concern either ,” Younghyun said, never once breaking his stance. “That’s what friends do and we’re not friends. My only friends are dead.”

He continued to do his work in silence, and he was grateful for it. He understood people like Wonpil, people who needed to talk all the time, even to themselves, or they’d go crazy if their thoughts got too out of hand. But Younghyun didn’t want to talk and he didn’t want to sacrifice his own sanity for Wonpil.

Eventually, they made it out of the cliff. As soon as they got a whiff of fresh air, both Wonpil and Younghyun let themselves collapse on the ground, with their limbs splayed around them.

Many words were left unsaid as they continued their journey. Younghyun was getting restless. It had been almost a week and they still hadn’t arrived at the camp. He didn’t even remember how long he’d been held captive by the Black Diamond, but he knew that not even one day was pleasant. They hadn’t heard from Sungjin or Jae, so Dowoon was most probably still missing.

He just hoped they didn’t subject him to the same horrors he’d been through…

“Fucking finally,” he heard Wonpil mutter.

Looking up from his shoes, Younghyun could see the familiar outline of trees that marked the camp. He sighed in relief, ready to collapse in the first tent he happened to come across, until he noticed Youngmin walking briskly towards them with a frown on his face.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, kicking a stray branch out of his way. “Where’s the rest of your group?”

Wonpil barely let Youngmin finish when he spoke up, “We had to split up,” he said, cracking a few knuckles in his hands. “Dowoon got captured by the Black Diamond. Well, before that we found a stone and we went to check it out- I mean _ they _ went to check it out. I think Dowoon set off a trap-”

“Wait, wait,” Youngmin said, putting his hands in front of him. “What do you mean Dowoon got captured?”

“What do you mean what do I mean, he got captured!” Wonpil raised his voice and kicked a tree, sending a flurry of dry leaves on their heads.

Youngmin sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. “Alright, alright, calm down,” he said and turned around. “Come sit inside and tell me everything.” He motioned for them to follow him to his tent. 

Once they were settled down, Wonpil jumped into explaining everything again. He was starting to give Younghyun a headache, which was a problem given how cozy the tent was. He could already feel his eyes drooping.

“We had to split up,” Wonpil said as he settled himself on a cushion. “Jae is coming here too. Actually, he should’ve been here before us, right, Younghyun?”

Younghyun jumped at the mention of his name. “Oh,” he stuttered, “he’s probably just staying low. Sky bison and all.”

Wonpil nodded before continuing. “Sungjin stayed back. He went to check out the village to get some information out of them.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and bit into his nails. “Whose idea was that? That was a fucking terrible idea.”

Youngmin let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back. “You shouldn’t have split up. This just leaves you more vulnerable. There’s a reason we do things in groups here.”

“Well, what else were we supposed to do?”

“You could’ve sent me a hawk.”

Wonpil rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, let me check my back pocket for my pet hawk.”

“So what should we do now?” Younghyun asked. Sometimes, he was the only one thinking about what was really important.

Youngmin scratched his chin, full in thought. “You should stay here for the night,” he said after a few moments. “Let’s see if Jae comes back. Then you need to go back for Sungjin and Dowoon.”

Younghyun lifted his head. “What, alone?”

“Yes,” Youngmin said, closing his eyes. “We’re tight on resources.”

Wonpil stood up and towered over Youngmin. “We _ can’t _. You’ve already seen what happened when there were five of us. We can’t go there alone again.”

“Exactly,” Younghyun said. This was the first and last time he agreed with something Wonpil said.

“Wonpil, please sit down,” Youngmin said in a defeated tone. Wonpil didn’t sit down. “I know it’s not ideal, and I’m sorry, but we’ve just managed to contact some high ranking officials in Ba Sing Se and we need to put everyone we have into the resistance force we’re building.”

“Fine, but don’t forget who told you about the Avatar and what it cost,” Wonpil snarled and stormed out of the tent.

Youngmin closed his eyes and sighed, finally letting himself lay on the ground. After a few moments, he raised his head and asked Younghyun, “Want some tea?”

* * *

Sori roared impatiently behind Jae and nuzzled her nose into his back.

“I know, girl,” Jae said in a tired tone as he scratched her head. “We just have to walk a little more and then you can soar through the sky like you’re meant to.” He crushed a few dry leaves with his shoes. “You don’t want us to get caught now, do you?”

Sori growled in response. Jae sighed and rubbed his eyes. They had been walking for a couple of days, but there seemed to be no end to the forest. It would have been so much easier to fly, but Jae wanted to play it safe for once. He glanced up at the sky with a longing look. He belonged up there, where he could be free, not on the ground slithering between the long shadows cast by the setting sun.

A rustle of leaves caught his attention. He froze immediately, eyes darting back and forth between the trees. Sori sniffed the air and pointed to Jae’s right with her head.

“Stay here,” Jae whispered. “I’ll go check it out.”

He moved slowly towards the source of the sound, careful not to crunch anything under his feet. He turned a corner around a tree and almost tripped when he saw a girl around his age behind it, half covered in blood and shivering. This time, he managed to step on a branch.

The girl’s head shot up immediately and she started backing away with wide eyes. “Oh gosh, no,” she muttered, putting her arms in front of herself. “No, get away from me!”

Jae lowered himself to the ground to look her in the eye. “It’s okay,” he said, raising his arms. “I won’t hurt you.”

“No, they- they said the same thing when they took it away.” The girl sniffled and wrapped her torn robe tighter around herself.

“Took what away?” Jae asked in a gentle voice.

“My earthbending.”

Jae felt his stomach sink to his knees. “Who did this to you?” he asked and leaned closer. “Was it the Black Diamond?”

“I… I think so?” She tugged on her sleeves. “I don’t know. I thought they called themselves the Black Jade or something. They put my bending in a jade and then-”

“It’s going to be okay,” Jae said, eying the blood on her clothes. “Are you hurt?”

The girl shook her head. “No, it’s not my blood,” she said quietly.

“Alright, don’t worry. I can help you.” He shifted on his feet. His hips were cramping in his slouched position. “I’m Jae. What’s your name?”

“Jina.”

“How long have you been out here?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lips and looked down. “A couple of days, maybe?”

Jae’s face fell. “Oh,” he said. “Well, at least they’re not around here anymore.” He smiled with a little of his usual energy. “Come with me, I’ll give you something to eat and drink. You must be starving!”

Jae held out his hand, but Jina looked at it with narrow eyes, as if to gauge his trustworthiness.

He let out an easy-going laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m running from the Black Diamond as well.”

Jina’s eyes perked up. “You are?”

“Yeah, they kind of kidnapped my friend,” he said, tightening his lips. “But no worries, I’m going to a place to get him some help. And I’m sure Youngmin will take care of you once we get there.”

“So I can come with you?” Jina asked, eyes lightening up.

“Of course. Can you walk?”

Jina nodded and stood up. Jae led her to where Sori was waiting for him. She sniffed Jina suspiciously and bared her teeth, making her back away a few steps.

“Sori, this is Jina.” Jae pointed to Jina. “Jina, this is Sori, my flying bison.”

Jina stared at Sori with her mouth agape and blinked a few times. “I don’t think she likes me,” she whispered to Jae.

“Don’t worry,” Jae said with a laugh as he pet Sori’s head. “She’s a bit temperamental around strangers. She’ll warm up to you.”

Jina stayed where she was and bounced her feet, eyes darting from Jae to Sori.

“Is this your first time seeing a sky bison?”

“Yeah… I come from a small village,” Jina said. “Not many foreigners visited us.”

Jae grinned. “Oh, I’ve been all over the world,” he said. “I’ll tell you all about it on our way to the camp.” He motioned for her to come forward. “Hop on, you shouldn’t be walking.”

“Doesn’t Sori fly?” 

“Yes, but we need to walk until we’re out of the forest. I don’t want to attract any unwanted attention.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jae tried to get Sori to lower herself to make it easier for Jina to get on her back, but she wouldn’t budge. Jae sighed and ran his hands through her fur.

“Come on, what’s the matter?” he asked. Sori roared in discontent. “It’s okay, Jina’s a friend.” Another unhappy roar. “We can’t stay here for too long, Sori,” Jae said in a stern voice.

She huffed and lowered herself begrudgingly as Jae helped Jina onto her saddle.

“Feel free to drink my water and eat my food,” Jae said as he grabbed one of his bags. “Oh, here’s a blanket if you’re cold. Don’t worry about dirtying it.”

“Thanks,” Jina said as she accepted the blanket and settled herself into a corner.

* * *

Dowoon looked up at the guard who had just thrown a bowl of soup in front of him with no regard to spilling it. He waited until she turned around and then he striked. With a whip of his arm, Dowoon trapped the guard in a layer of ice before tackling her. She was a firebender, but she was caught off guard, so Dowoon took his chance and leapt over her body and made a run in a random direction with a glass of water in his hands. People were running behind him, so he threw the glass at them, hoping that the water had turned to ice like he had willed it to. He didn’t have time to look back at his handiwork. He continued to run, trying to dodge the fire and earth that was being thrown his way. He skidded around a corner and a wooden door appeared in front of him. Dowoon lunged himself at it, but it didn’t budge.

“No, no, no, no,” he whispered as he pulled the handle. “No!” he shouted and landed a kick to the door.

Then it opened. It was like a dream. He didn’t even have a plan, but he had managed to escape. It almost seemed too easy. When he opened the door, he wasn’t greeted by fresh air like he had expected. Instead, there was a wall of rock in front of him, like the whole place had been carved into it. No light entered or escaped from that place. There was no way he could escape without some earthbending. Dowoon turned around. The guards were catching up to him. With a resigned sigh, he hung his head low and raised his hands in defeat. They were on him in a second, and a moment later he was being shoved towards the familiar hallway that led to the dining room where the Avatar was waiting.

“He tried to escape sir,” a guard said, shoving Dowoon forward and making him stumble.

The Avatar sighed and locked his hands together on the table. “Here we are again,” he said in a disapproving tone. “I’ve tried being complacent with you, but being nice has done nothing if not make you even more rude and arrogant.”

Dowoon locked eyes with him in defiance. “You’re not exactly a paragon of hospitality.”

Ozerol laughed and shook his head. “I see you’ve inherited your mother’s sense of humour,” he said. “But do you remember her last moments with you?”

Dowoon rolled his eyes. “Not this again. I told you I’m not playing your mind games.”

“I’m not trying to play a game.” Ozerol stood up. “I want to show you the truth.”

“What truth?” Dowoon asked as Ozerol walked towards him.

A moment later, he was on the ground, his knees bending themselves as if they had their own will. His palms dug into the ebony floor as he tried to break his fall. He groaned, and his neck lifted itself up just high enough so he would stare at Ozerol directly.

“What are you doing to me?” Dowoon asked in a tight voice.

“Teaching you respect.”

Ozerol put his hands on the sides of Dowoon’s head. Something wet and cold dripped down his neck, and pain exploded in his head.

_ “Mooooooom!” Dowoon shouted as he fidgeted on his feet. “Are you coming?” _

_ It was his first fishing trip with his parents and he was so excited- _

No, no, no, not that one. Skip ahead, skip ahead.

_ “Dowoon! Come back!” his mom shouted as she shielded her face from the snow. “It’s dangerous!” _ _  
_ _ He glanced at her for a moment before turning around. He just had to find out what was out there, then he’d run back to his parents. The glowing blue light was guiding him through the blizzard anyway, so he wouldn’t get lost. His parents had told him they couldn’t see it, but it was so bright and inviting that Dowoon couldn’t help but follow it. _

_ “Dowoon! Don’t go there!” _ _  
_

_“Dowoon!” _

_ “Dowoon!” _

_ He ran along with the blue light. It looked like a very old friend, like someone who knew him well. He stopped when the light stopped in front of a huge pile of snow with spikes of ice sticking out of it. Dowoon looked at it in disappointment. It was just a pile of snow and ice. What was he supposed to do with it? _

_ The light pulsated more urgently above the snow, urging Dowoon to uncover what was buried under all the snow. He extended his hand to touch one of the spikes. _

_ “Dowoon, no, don’t touch that!” his dad shouted as he yanked his arm away, but it was too late. _

_ The ice exploded in his face and he screamed. He screamed louder than he’d ever had in his life. Ice and snow grazed his face when he looked up (or down, he wasn’t sure where the sky was anymore). The light was still there, but it didn’t feel like a friend anymore. Dowoon wanted to cry. The light flew in front of him. It was surrounding a stone of the same colour with a very noticeable diamond carving on it, and then it started descending towards him. Dowoon wanted to move, but his legs were buried under something very heavy. The stone was glowing brighter and brighter by each second. Dowoon screamed and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact that never came. He peeked through his eyelids, but the stone was nowhere to be seen. Instead, blue snow was sprinkling down on his face. _

_ Dowoon frowned at the weight on his legs. He cranked his neck to see what it was. _

_ “Dad?” he whispered when he saw the familiar blue parka laced with blood. _

_ He turned left, heart almost beating out of his throat. His mom was laying on the ground right next to him. Her eyes were glassy and she was staring at the sky, but she didn’t move when Dowoon nudged her. _

_ “Mom?” he said. “Mom! Wake up!” _

_ His chest felt heavy and he wanted to curl up in his mom’s arms, but his dad had him pinned down. He did his best to hug her from his awkward position and closed his eyes. _

_ He was in grandpa’s arms, wailing and screaming because he didn’t know what to do with himself. _

_ Sungjin was hugging grandma. _

_ Sungjin wasn’t talking to him. _

_ Sungjin wasn’t even looking at him. _

When Dowoon opened his eyes, his face was pressed onto the floor and he was dripping with sweat. He took a huge gulp of air, but it didn’t seem to be enough. He rolled to his back and his eyes met Ozerol’s, who was leaning over him.

“What-” he gasped, still panting. “What did you do to me?”

“I showed you the truth.”

Dowoon took another deep breath. “What? What truth?”

“The stone,” Ozerol said. “And your brother.”

“What about the stone? I thought that was a hallucination.”

“It was very much real, and you activated it.”

Dowoon frowned in confusion.

“You,” Ozerol said, yanking him up by the collar. “You, a five year old child, managed to activate one of _ my _ stones, something I spent half of my life working on.” He dropped Dowoon to the floor again. “And you stole what was inside,” he whispered. “Now, I’m taking back what’s mine.”

“What are you talking about?” Dowoon asked. All of this crypticness was hurting his head. “What was inside it?”

“The gift of waterbending,” Ozerol whispered. “Tell me, how did you do it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe you don’t, right now, but I’ll make sure you will. Now, Dowoon, don’t make this more complicated than it has to be. You will join me and give me back what is rightfully mine!”

“No! I’ll never join a bunch of murderers. You killed my parents. The bomb was there to protect your stone, right? It was all your doing.”

“I never _ planted _the bomb. Like your grandparents said, it was a very old one. It had probably been there for decades.”

“No, no, I don’t care.” Dowoon panted between each word. “You killed them. It was your fault.”

“No, Dowoon, it was you who killed your parents. Even Sungjin knows this. Didn’t you see how he didn’t talk to you, or even look at you, for weeks?”

Dowoon shook his head. He was lying. Ozerol was lying and trying to break him so he would join his stupid little gang.

“Join me, Dowoon,” Ozerol said. “You harness incredible power within you. Haven’t you ever wondered why you never mastered waterbending?”

Dowoon stilled and pushed his palms onto the floor. “What?” he asked in a thick voice.

“I thought so.” Ozerol smiled. “When you unlocked the stone, you harvested the power that was stored inside of it. You were already a waterbender, so you couldn’t handle holding that much power at once.” He paused and kneeled next to Dowoon. “You were too weak. Now it’s time for you to give me back my power.”

“It’s not yours.” Dowoon looked Ozerol in the eyes. “You stole someone’s bending, didn’t you? It’s not your power.”

“It is! You’re just a child compared to me. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pointed a finger to Dowoon’s face. “Now, you either give it back to me by joining me, or I’ll take it back by force.”

Dowoon couldn’t help laughing. “What, so you’re just gonna take my bending away? Why didn’t you do it when I was a kid? What are you afraid of?”

Ozerol grabbed Dowoon by his hair and forced him into a seating position. “I’m not afraid of anything, you insolent brat!”

Ozerol placed a hand on Dowoon’s forehead, and another one on his chest. What Dowoon felt next was indescribable agony. He felt like his soul was being ripped to shreds inside his body, and then burnt to ashes and destroyed forever. His throat hurt, but he couldn’t hear his own screaming. Actually, he couldn’t hear anything beside a loud ringing in his ears.

And then, the pain was gone as soon as it had appeared, leaving Dowoon limp on the ground.

“Impossible,” Ozerol said, panting. “Take him back to his room. I’m not done with him.”

The guards dragged Dowoon on the floor, but he was too exhausted to feel anything.

* * *

Sungjin woke up to the sound of not very hushed whispering. An involuntary gasp escaped him as he tried to turn his head towards the sounds. His muscles were sore and his head was pounding. Nevertheless, he managed to catch sight of Soojin standing in front of Minhyun with her hands on her hips.

“What’s going on?” he managed to croak out.

Soojin whipped her head around, her eyes twitching in visible anger.

“He’s awake,” Minhyun said with a smile as he approached Sungjin’s bed. “I will talk to him right now.”

“No!”

Sungjin cringed at the volume of her voice, and also at the light that was directly hitting his eyes now that Minhyun wasn’t blocking the window anymore. He let out a deep breath and pushed himself up against the coarse bed sheets, but a wave of dizziness and nausea stopped him. The sheets crumpled in his tight grip as he tried to regain his composure. Fuck, he hated being sick.

“You will not interrogate my patient without my consent,” Soojin said as she stomped towards Minhyun and grabbed his bicep. “Look at him. He can barely sit up. He still needs to rest.”

Minhyun ripped his hand out of Soojin’s grip. “It’s not an _ interrogation _. I just want to know who he is and how I can help him.”

“You and I both know that is complete, utter bullshit.”

Sungjin finally managed to swallow down the nausea. “It’s alright. I feel better.”

Soojin’s nostrils flared dangerously. “But-”

“Honestly, it’s okay,” Sungjin said, ignoring the way his ribs protested along the way. “I understand if you have any questions for me. I didn’t exactly make a good first impression.”

“See?” Minhyun smiled at Soojin. “He’s fine. It won’t take long anyway.”

Soojin huffed. “Fine.” She turned to Sungjin. “But don’t come whining at me when you feel like you’re dying.”

Sungjin blinked a few times before answering. “I… Okay.”

“Well, Lee,” Minhyun said, taking a seat in front of him. “That’s your name, right?”

Sungjin blinked in confusion before nodding. He couldn’t blow his cover this early.

“Do you mind telling me what happened?”

“I was-” Sungjin cleared his throat. “I was travelling with some friends. We had to leave our village because it was flooded by a dam construction. It was a really small, but beautiful village in the Earth Kingdom.” He looked down at his tangled fingers on his lap. “Anyway, they attacked me. They robbed me and beat me up, so I ended up here. Honestly, I thought I was going to die.” He managed to make his voice crack and rubbed his eyes for good measure.

“Why did they do it?” Minhyun asked with the same smile on his face. Did his muscles never hurt? “You said they were your friends.”

Sungjin looked at the ceiling and sighed. “I thought they were, but obviously they just wanted my money and my supplies since no one will worry about me or look for me.”

Minhyun raised an eyebrow. “So you have no family?”

Sungjin shook his head. “No one.”

“I see.” Minhyun shifted in his seat. “How would you like to take revenge on the people who hurt you?”

Sungjin leaned forward. “What?” His heart was beating faster. He was on to something.

“I know a way you could take revenge on the people who destroyed your village.”

Sungjin raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

“Of course,” Minhyun said. “I know some very powerful people. Getting in their good graces will benefit you greatly.”

Sungjin sagged back against the headboard. “That’s the same thing _ they _ said,” he mumbled, casting his eyes down.

“Oh, we’re different, I can assure you.”

“How so?”

Minhyun smiled again. “Have you ever heard of the Black Diamond?”

If Sungjin’s stomach was a floor, it would have collapsed right into the centre of the planet. Still, he managed to keep his face neutral, hoping that Minhyun hadn’t noticed the way his fingers twitched. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Soojin run a hand down her face and turn around. He was getting a feel of what was going on in that village. He was close enough. If luck was on his side, then maybe he could manage to save both Dowoon _ and _the village.

“No,” Sungjin said. “Should I?”

“No.” Minhyun grinned. “Let me tell you something. If you can do some useful work for us here in the village, we’ll let you become powerful enough to go after the people who destroyed your home _ and _the people who abandoned you.”

Sungjin managed to put a crestfallen look upon his face. “That’s nice of you, but I don’t have much to offer. I’m not a bender. I can only build stuff, but I’m pretty useless right now with these injuries.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Minhyun patted Sungjin’s knee, sending a jolt of pain through his leg. “So what kind of stuff can you build?”  
Sungjin’s face brightened up. “Anything really. Buildings, machines, weapons, you name it.”

“That’s wonderful! You see, we are in dire need of a more modern irrigation system, but none of us has the skill or knowledge to build it. Do you think you would be able to do that?”

This was it. This was his moment to shine, to show the world that even though he wasn’t a bender like half of his family, he was still capable of using his brain to help his brother. He knew he was getting involved in dangerous situations, which was the complete opposite of what his grandparents would have wanted for them, but things had changed. He couldn’t afford to stay low and do nothing while those monsters had his brother. So, despite the weight of the necklace his grandfather had given to Dowoon sitting on his chest, he looked Minhyun in the eyes.

“Of course,” he said. “Do you have any benders around or do I need to plan to do things manually?”

“We have airbenders, earthbenders, waterbenders and firebenders. They’re all skilled, so you won’t need to worry about this aspect of the job.”

Sungjin hummed. “You have quite a multicultural village here.”

“We do,” Minhyun said and stood up. “We’ll discuss things further later, maybe tomorrow. Focus on your recovery for now. You can stay here until we find you a permanent place to stay.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. After all, it’s an even exchange.”

Minhyun bid them goodbye, returning Soojin’s dirty look with a wink. She walked over to Sungjin once Minhyun was out of the door and started to examine his wounds. Her hands were gentle despite the hardened scowl on her face. Minutes passed in silence as she changed his bandages.

“You’re not stupid,” she said, finally breaking the silence.

Sungjin looked up, surprised. “What?”

“You’re not stupid,” Soojin repeated. “I’ve already told you, getting involved with Minhyun will only bring you more trouble. Don’t fall for his words. He knows how to draw in lonely people by giving them that sweet talk.”

“What are you talking about?”

Soojin sighed and put down the vial she was holding with more force than necessary. “Look, Lee, if that’s your real name, I don’t know and I don’t care who you are nor what you’re doing here, but you need to leave while you still can. Tell Minhyun you changed your mind or that you have some distant relatives in some town. I’ll cover for you if necessary.”

“But I have nowhere else to go.”

“Then _ find _ somewhere to go,” she said, pointing a finger at his face. “People don’t just happen to stumble in this village. I know that. Minhyun knows that. Even you probably know it. This place is not what it seems, trust me.”

Sungjin shrugged. “What’s so bad about it? It seems like a nice place to live.”

Soojin sighed and shook her head. She continued to tend to him in silence. Once she was done, she shoved a bowl of soup in his hands along with the same vial of liquid he had drank from the day before.

“Eat this.” She pointed to the bowl. “Drink three drops from the vial when you’re done. I’ll be in the next room if you need anything.”

Over the next few days, Sungjin sketched a rough copy of what would have become the village’s new irrigation system. It was still simple and it would need many adjustments since he was basing it off a poorly drawn map of the area, but it was enough to convince Minhyun.

“You won’t be disappointed when we pay you back,” he told Sungjin. “Trust me.”

But diverting the stream’s water to the village wasn’t the only thing Sungjin was trying to build. If he wanted to face powered up benders, he needed to power up his own weapons. He already had a dagger. He needed more knives, bombs, ropes, slingshot bombs, pepper bombs, distraction bombs, water bombs. He needed _ bombs _. They were the best way to disrupt a bender’s environment. Once they had no control over it, they were powerless, and Sungjin would strike before they could regain their bearings.

“What are you drawing?”

Sungjin startled, instinctively turning his drawing face down. He looked over his shoulder and breathed deeply, letting out some of the tension in his muscles. It was Soojin’s son, standing behind him like a ghost.

“Jisung, _ don’t do that _,” he said as he rubbed his aching chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t sneak up on me again.”

“Right, sorry,” Jisung said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “So what were you drawing?”

“Oh, just… stuff.” Sungjin unclenched his fists from the crumpled piece of paper and let out a nervous laugh. “To pass time, you know. Things get pretty boring when you’re bedridden.”

Jisung nodded. “So you haven’t changed your mind about staying here?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just… it’s not a nice place to live in.”

“Why?”

“It’s just not.”

“You know, I won’t be convinced unless you actually tell me why.”

Jisung sighed. “I know, I know. I’ll talk to my mom.”

Sungjin hummed in agreement, resuming his sketching as Jisung stepped out of the room. It wasn’t until late at night that he came back with Soojin, who had a very sour look on her face.

“Did you drink your medicine already?” she asked without even looking at Sungjin.

“Yes.”

“Good. How are the ribs.”

“Better, thanks to you.”

Soojin’s hands hovered over a chair, as if she didn’t know what to do with them. “Good. Good. Very good.” She paced around the chair a few times before sitting down. “Jisung told me you’re still dead set on staying here.”

Sungjin hesitated before nodding. Crickets sounded outside the house as a gentle breeze combed through his hair.

“Your project has caught Minhyun’s attention. It’s all he talks about these days. You must be really good at this.” She readjusted a few items on the already neat table. “Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure,” Sungjin said, tilting his head.

“Why are you really here?”

“I already told you,” Sungjin said in an exasperated tone. “My village got-”

“No, no, none of that.” Soojin put her hands in front of Sungjin to interrupt him. “I’ve already heard that story. Minhyun and his cronies still pretend to buy that story, but I don’t. Now tell me the _ truth _.”

“I _ am _ telling the truth.”

“How about this,” Soojin said as she stomped on a pesky bug. “I’ll tell you my story, in exchange for yours.” She rested her chin on her hand. “The _ real _ one,” she added after Sungjin raised an eyebrow.

“How do I know you’re not lying?” he asked.

“As I’ve been saying for the past week, you’re not stupid. Do you want to accept the deal or not?”  
Sungjin glanced at her face. She looked tired. Not the typical I’ve-been-working-all-day tired, but the kind that told Sungjin she had been fighting a hopeless battle alone for years. Underneath all the exhaustion, though, there was still a flicker of hope. And annoyance at Jisung’s neverending foot tapping.

“Alright,” Sungjin said quietly.

Soojin looked up at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, but she regained her composure quickly. “Right, that’s great.” She gulped and glanced up at Jisung for a second. “Let’s start from the beginning,” she continued. “Do you know anything about the Black diamond?”

Sungjin nodded slowly. “Yeah, actually, I know quite a lot about them.”

“Minhyun is a member of the Black Diamond, but you’ve already figured that much out,” Soojin said. “He’s like… an emissary, their representative. He sees over the missions that need to be carried out in this area. They first arrived six years ago. They looked like disheveled travellers, just like you. And we took care of them.” Spite dripped down each word as she spoke. “Then they asked for an alliance and we refused.”

She shuddered when Jisung put a hand on her shoulder, but she relaxed into the touch before continuing. “They didn’t even try to negotiate with us. One second they were talking about gangs and power, the next they were taking half of our village hostage. They took all our benders.” Her voice dropped down to a whisper. “All of my family…”

She continued after a few moments of silence. “They were all benders. I was the only one who wasn’t gifted with the ability to manipulate earth.” She chuckled. “I was jealous of them, you know. I was the only normal one amongst a family of prodigies. I felt like I had nothing going for me, but in the end, me being the most boring family member was what saved me… and Jisung.” She barely managed to form the next few words. “And then… they took them… there was someone…” She covered her face with her hands, arms resting on her knees.

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too painful,” Sungjin said, casting her a worried glance.

“They took our people,” Soojin continued in a firmer tone. “They took them to the centre of the village, in front of a person, a _ coward _, hiding in a cloak. He took their bending away, right in front of us.” She paused. “My husband, Jisung’s father, was also among them.”

Sungjin stared at her blankly. “I- I’m sorry,” he said, even though he knew it probably meant nothing to her.

Soojin dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Enough about me. Tell me your story,” she said in the same tone that always commanded respect.

“Oh, well…” Sungjin looked down at his palms. “It’s a long story. I don’t even know all of it.” He laughed dryly. “For starters, my real name is Sungjin. My village was attacked by the Black Diamond.” He shook his head. “Well, actually they attacked my brother. They tried to kidnap him, but we fought back, so they burned down our village. Then we escaped to Ba Sing Se and they found us again, so we had to escape again. And…” He sighed. “Well, we ended up here and they kidnapped my brother and I _ need _ to find him before they do anything to him. He’s a waterbender. What if they take away his bending? He’ll never be the same person again. He- Look, I have to help my brother.”

Soojin took a long moment to observe him. Sungjin shuddered under her scrutinizing gaze, but he didn’t break eye contact.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” she finally asked.

“I don’t know yet,” he admitted. “But I’m working on something.”

“You’ll never stand a chance against all those benders,” Jisung said. “Some of them can even manipulate more than one element.”

Sungjin smiled. “You don’t have to be a bender to bend.” This was his expertise. “Besides, we can play things in our favor. There are far more villagers than Black Diamond members here.”

“This doesn’t mean anyone will want to join you.” Soojin pressed her lips in a line. “Our people have been terrorized for so long that we don’t even remember what it feels like to be free.”

“Well don’t you want to experience that feeling again?” Sungjin insisted.

“It’s not that simple, Sungjin.”

It wasn’t simple at all, but Sungjin didn’t understand. If he had the chance to help his own village, he would take it without hesitation.

“There’s too much at stake for us,” Soojin continued. “If there isn’t any concrete plan, no one will put their faith in you. You’re just a stranger to everyone, but Minhyun isn’t. The Black Diamond murdered our families in front of us, so don’t take it personally when I tell you that no one would believe you if you told them you can defeat these people.”

Sungjin nodded silently.

“And,” Soojin said, pointing a finger in Sungjin’s face. “If you plan on doing anything, you can_ not _ sabotage our village’s safety.” She paused. “I understand that you want to find your brother, but you can’t destroy what little we have left of our home for your own goals, no matter how noble and personal.”

“I understand,” Sungjin said. “But once I come up with a plan… Do you think I could talk to your people?” He shifted in his bed. “It’s not just about me and my brother now. It was, in the beginning, but now I have the chance to help you as well. You know, kill two birds with one stone.”

Soojin raised an eyebrow. “It’s a very dangerous road. Are you really willing to take it?”

“I am.” Sungjin nodded vehemently. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing when I know there is something I actually can do.”

Soojin sighed, smoothing the crease in her forehead with her fingers. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “By the way, you won’t be confined in this room starting tomorrow. Doctor’s orders,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Sungjin said with too much enthusiasm as Soojin left the room.

“So,” Jisung said as he took Soojin’s place on the chair. “Was that drawing part of your grand scheme against the Black Diamond?”  
Sungjin grinned. “Yes,” he said. “Watch and learn, Jisung.”

* * *

Sungjin counted his steps as he walked around the village’s farming fields. The crops were almost fully ripe and waiting for the autumn harvest. How they looked this healthy with such an old and clunky irrigation system was beyond Sungjin’s comprehension. He picked up a fallen branch and traced eleven large rectangles on the dirt. With his hands on his hips, he observed them for a few moments and gave a satisfied smile. The sound of footsteps turned his attention away from the ground.

“What are you doing here?” Minhyun asked, pointing to the rectangles with his chin.

“Oh, I was trying to see if there was enough space for these metal containers I’m planning to build,” Sungjin said with a smile, eyes squinting in the afternoon sunlight.

“Metal containers?” Minhyun raised an eyebrow. “What do you need those for?”

“You know, you’ll need them as emergency water compartments in case of a drought. That stream doesn’t hold a lot of water.”

“Yeah, but why metal?”

Sungjin blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

“Why do you need metal compartments? Can’t you just use wood?”

“No, wood will grow moldy and weak. The metal will keep the water fresh and cool.”

“Oh.” Minhyun scratched the back of his head. “I hadn’t thought of that. Good work anyway.”

Sungjin gave him a tight lipped smile.

“I came here to tell you that you might need to stay at Soojin’s place for a little while longer. We need some time to build a small house for you, since none of ours are vacant.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Sungjin said with a wave of his hands. “It’s good enough for now. Once we finish this project I’ll build it myself.”

“Good. By the way, if you need any help with your metal containers,” Minhyun said, “my earthbenders will help you shape them.”  
“What?” Sungjin’s grip tightened unconsciously on the branch. “They’re supposed to be made of metal, not earth.”

“Well, my earthbenders are unlike any other earthbenders you have ever seen,” Minhyun said in a low voice. “They can bend _ metal _.”

“How is that even possible?” Sungjin asked, unable to mask the shock on his face.

“I told you, the Black Diamond holds great power within its ranks.”

“That’s- That’s-” Sungjin stuttered. “That’s incredible! Wow, I can’t wait to discover the rest of it.”

Minhyun patted his shoulder. “You will, in due time.”

Sungjin stayed there as Minhyun returned to the village. His arm jolted when the branch he was pressing into the ground snapped under the pressure, sending him stumbling to the side. If they had metalbenders capable of shaping human sized containers, he was utterly screwed.

As he turned around and headed for the village, he looked over to the trail he and Dowoon had taken just a week before. It was small, almost invisible from where he was standing, but the thought of it was enough to send shivers through his body. During the past week, Sungjin hadn’t had a chance to sit down and think much. He was either sketching random stuff, or too high on medicine to form coherent thoughts. Now that he had the chance, he didn’t really want to think about what had happened because every time he did, his stomach would twist into painful knots that wouldn’t unravel themselves until he distracted himself with something.

Younghyun and Wonpil had left on foot, so they had probably arrived at the camp, if they weren’t captured by the Black Diamond as well. And who knew where Jae was? He was never one to have an issue with being on the road, that was literally in his blood, but he wasn’t safe. No one was safe.

Sungjin dropped himself on a chair in Soojin’s workspace where Jisung was preparing a potion.

“Did you know they have metalbenders?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Yeah,” Jisung said, not looking up from the bowl he was holding. “What about it?”

“And do you suppose we can trap metalbenders inside metal boxes?”

Jisung finally looked up. “Oh.”

“Yes, ‘oh’.”

“I never thought about it. So what will we do? Coat them in ice?”

“That’s a great idea! Let the waterbenders break them free!”

Jisung rolled his eyes. “You’re the mastermind here, not me.”

“I’ll think of something,” Sungjin said. “We might have to take this risk. Has your mother talked to the other villagers?”

“She has, but it’s not exactly easy convincing them.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

Soojin entered with a man behind him. She looked outside a few times before closing the door.

“Sungjin, I want you to meet Jinyoung,” she said. “He’s the head of the rebel forces, effective as of now.”

Sungjin tilted his head to the side. “Since when do you have rebel forces?” He glanced at Jinyoung, who looked just as confused as him.

“Since now,” Soojin said. “I managed to recruit him and a few others. They’ll try to recruit more people, but we’ll have to make do with a dozen or so people right now.”

“Did you tell them about the plan?” Sungjin asked as he stood up. “Can they be trusted?”

“Of course they can, why else would I involve them?”

Sungjin put his hands up defensively. “Just checking. I don’t exactly know these people.”

Soojin huffed. “Well, you know _ me _. And you can trust anyone I trust. And yes, I told them about the plan.”

Jinyoung chose that moment to speak up. “There’s a big problem with it.” He turned to Sungjin. “You said you wanted to trap the earthbenders in those metal boxes, but they can also bend metal. It’s too risky.”

“I know. I know.” Sungjin sighed. “I think it’s a risk we have to take. They won’t be able to move much inside those boxes, so their bending abilities will also be limited.”

Jinyoung eyed him warily. “I know, but-”

“Do you have a better plan?” Sungjin asked.

He continued when no one responded. “Yeah, so we’ll proceed with this plan, risks and everything involved. If it goes wrong, then just pin everything on me. Say I threatened you or something.”

Soojin stepped forward. “No, Sungjin, we won’t-”

“It’s best for everyone this way,” Sungjin interrupted. “Maybe they’ll take me straight to my brother. And you’ll seem relatively innocent.”

A thick coat of silence fell over the room, only broken by the gentle sound of simmering water. Sungjin cast a fleeting look over Soojin’s face, then over to Jinyoung before settling on a point between them, not wanting to meet their eyes. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now,” Jisung said as he pulled out a chair before he rested his elbows on the wooden table covered with several pots and glasses and vials filled with potion. “No one’s ratting anyone out right now. Besides, our plan hasn’t even started. We won’t know how it’ll turn out until we put it into action.”

“Jisung is right,” Sungjin said, clearing a chair to sit down. “We need to focus on _ doing _ things right now. I’ll ask the earthbenders to build the containers tomorrow, so we can do everything the day after tomorrow.”

“How many are you planning to build?” Jinyoung asked.

“Eleven, one for each bender.”

“Great!” Jisung exclaimed. “Eleven is my lucky number. Now who wants some potato stew?”

“What stew?” Sungjin asked.

“That stew.” Jisung pointed at the bowl where he was previously mixing his potion.

“That’s stew? Why is it purple?” Sungjin asked, puzzled.

Jisung looked at him like he was stupid. “Because it’s potato stew?”

“Oh. Where I come from potatoes are- Well, actually we don’t have potatoes. Nothing grows there.”

* * *

It was the day of the attack and Sungjin had never been this nervous before. He felt like throwing up the moment he woke up, and only ate something when Soojin threatened to give him constipation medicine and lock him into one of his own metal containers. This would either work, or he would die trying. Literally. Though that option was quite an undesirable outcome since it implicated other people getting hurt, but it was now or never.

Sungjin sat cross-legged on the wooden floor of Soojin’s kitchen, with Jisung, Jinyoung and Soojin sitting in a circle next to him. Bowls of half eaten purple potato stew lay haphazardly around them. At least he wasn’t the only one who was too nervous to eat.

“Right.” Sungjin cleared his throat. “As you already know, our goal is incapacitating the benders, which is why you,” he turned to Jinyoung, “will set fire to some stray branches I’ve placed near the containers. They’re far away from the stream, which means that the waterbenders won’t have anything to defend themselves,” he said, “not even underground water. I’ve blocked all the underground canals. Soojin will unblock them once we’re done.”

“This is it then.” Jinyoung said, clapping his hands and standing up. “The rest of us are hiding near the boxes. They’ll come out once you signal them.”

Sungjin nodded and stood up. “Thank you for believing in me. And good luck.”

“We should also thank_ you _ for giving us the hope and the chance to save ourselves,” Soojin said with a smile.

“Okay then, I’ve packed everything we need,” Jisung said. “Let’s go!”

While Jinyoung and Jisung headed for the metal containers’ location from two different directions, Soojin hung around her workspace and Sungjin loitered nervously on the street. It was only a few minutes later when Jinyoung came back running and panting, with his face turned red from exertion. 

“Fire! Fire!” he shouted as he slammed his fists on Minhyun’s house. “There’s a fire down there!”  
Sungjin walked quickly towards Jinyoung. It wasn’t a long distance and the only reason he didn’t run was because he didn’t want to get there before Minhyun opened the door.

“What is going on?” Minhyun asked urgently as he slammed the door into Jinyoung’s face.

Jinyoung pointed to the trail of smoke rising in the sky. “There’s a fire over there!” 

“Fucking hell,” Minhyun grumbled. “Guys! Come on! Let’s see what these idiots managed to do this time.”

Ten people, the benders, filed out of Minhyun’s house. Sungjin jogged up to Minhyun.

“Wait, wait, is there a fire next to _ my constructions _?” he asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Yeah, these people will be the end of me. They can’t do one thing right.” Minhyun shook his head and smiled. “But don’t worry, we’ll take care of it. It’s just a fire, nothing we can’t deal with.”

Sungjin looked behind him. The benders were stomping forward in their heavy boots and raising a cloud of dust behind them. One of them shoved Jinyoung forward from the back of the line. Sungjin glanced at Minhyun again. His steps were confident, like he knew exactly what he was going to do.

“Why do you need all these benders to put out a small fire?” Sungjin asked.

Minhyun laughed. “It’s funny,” he said, kicking a rock in his path. “Somehow, I caught wind of the fact that you’re Dowoon’s brother.”

Sungjin’s blood drained out of his face. The sun was high in the sky, washing everything with its warm light, but Sungjin felt cold.

“What?” He barely managed to keep his voice steady.

“I admit it, you had a nice and believable story going for you. But,” Minhyun said, “I got messages from the central command. They told us to look out for someone who looks exactly like you, _ Sungjin _.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Sungjin laughed mirthlessly. “I told you I have no family. I have no idea who this guy is and I’m not his brother.”

They stopped in front of the fire. The heat was getting more intense, but Sungjin was shivering from the cold. 

“Then care to explain what you were doing with Dowoon that day? I saw you.” Minhyun turned to him. “I thought the explosion had messed with your head too much. I took pity on you, and this is how you repay me? By attacking me?”  
An ugly mixture of spite and anger bubbled in Sungjin’s chest. “Then you should never have trusted me,” he growled. “Fuck it. Everyone! Attack now!”

He barely managed to put on his glasses and his wet rag over his face before the bombs went off. He flinched at the sounds, but he pushed forward despite the ringing in his ears. His skin was getting irritated from the pepper he had put inside the bombs and he could only see shadows in all the dust and flour dancing in the air. It was all strangely familiar, but this time he wouldn’t lose.

“The air-” He coughed. “Get the airbenders first!” he shouted as he lunged himself at Minhyun.

His eyes were watering, but through the blurriness of his vision, he caught a glimpse of a hand coming towards him, carrying something hot and bright, but it exploded right in front of him. Sungjin was thrown backwards. A muffled blood curdling scream came from his left. The wet rag on his face was almost torn and every breath was like sending fire down his throat, but Sungjin had vowed to win this or die. He groaned and dragged himself on the gravelly ground that digged into his flesh. He stretched his hand and caught a sticky, wet arm, prompting a scream from the owner. Sungjin rolled over, pinning Minhyun underneath him.

“Shut up!” Sungjin shouted when Minhyun’s screams didn’t stop. “Shut up! Shut up!” He threw a punch to Minhyun’s face and shoved him into a metal box.

When he slammed the door shut, the only visible part of Minhyun was his face. He turned around and tackled the earthbender who had pinned down Jinyoung, shoving her into the metal box.

“The others- Where are the others?” Sungjin shouted.

“I think we got them all,” Jinyoung shouted back. “We did it!”

Sungjin looked around. All eleven boxes were filled with Black Diamond members. Some people were bleeding, but no one was dead. They had done it. Despite his eyes still stinging and the pepper still in the air, Sungjin ripped off his glasses. They had done it, but he wasn’t feeling elated. His body was still shaking with the cold that had surrounded him since his conversation with Minhyun and his heart still felt like a wet stone. He glanced at Jinyoung, who was still talking to him, but he didn’t hear any of it. He shoved Jinyoung away and stomped towards Minhyun.

“Where is my brother?” Sungjin growled and landed a kick to the box.

Minhyun groaned and bared his bloody teeth, letting out a hysterical laugh. All of Sungjin’s anger caught up to him in that moment. It coursed through his blood, pumped in his heart and filled his vision. He pulled his dagger out of its sheath. The dulled light reflected lazily on its edge. Sungjin pounced on the box and shoved the point of his dagger in Minhyun’s cheek.

“You’re not exactly in the position to be bargaining right now,” Sungjin whispered. “I could slay your throat and leave you to bleed out in here. No one will save you, not even your metalbenders.”

He vaguely registered someone calling his name, but his focus was entirely on Minhyun’s shit eating grin. He dug the dagger deeper.

“Tell me, _ where is my brother _ ? Where did they take him?”

“I don’t know,” Minhyun said in a weak, yet determined voice.

Sungjin’s trembling fingers were turning white around his dagger. “You do,” he said. “You know where he is, so tell me or I’m going to fucking kill you!”

Minhyun coughed. “I don’t know.”

“I’m going to kill you.” He threw a punch to the box. “I’m going to kill you.” Another punch. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

“Sungjin!” 

He turned around. “What?” 

Soojin was staring at him with wide eyes. Everyone else was frozen in place, looking at him with something in their eyes… something like fear.

Sungjin’s throat closed up and his eyes teared up. Suddenly, he was aware of the way his hands were shaking, his heart was pounding and sweat was dripping down his face. He told himself it was all because of the pepper bombs.

“Sungjin,” Soojin said, this time more slowly. “He’s bleeding out. Look.” She pointed to the blood stained side of the box. “I think his hand got blown off in an explosion. The remnants were…” She shook her head. “Your clothes.”

Sungjin looked down at his shirt. It was grimey, covered in so much blood and dirt that he couldn’t see the original green colour. And most of the blood wasn’t his. Bile rose up in his throat, but he swallowed it down. He could vomit his guts out later.

He turned his attention to Minhyun again. “You’re dying. I’ll leave you here to bleed out slowly and painfully. Your choice.”

Silence.

“Wait,” Minhyun said weakly when Sungjin was about to turn around. “Wait, you- you need to go east.” He wheezed. “The Fallen Rocks.” A cough. “Earthbender, you need an earthbender.”

Sungjin felt so weak in his knees he almost toppled over. “The Fallen Rocks,” he whispered to himself. “That’s not too far.”

“Please,” Minhyun wheezed, “my hand… it’s- I can’t-”

It was Sungjin’s turn to smile. “Sounds like a you problem.” He turned around to face the villagers. They were still wearing the same look of fear from moments before. “Drop them off into the stream. Maybe some other village will take pity on them.”

Jisung stepped forward. “But we can’t just-”

“Do you want to be enslaved by them again?” Sungjin snapped. Jisung stopped in his tracks to stare at him. “I guess not, so throw them in the fucking stream or you won’t live to see another day. I’m off to the Fallen Rocks now.”

“Sungjin…”

Soojin. It was Soojin. Why was she suddenly in front of him? She put her hands on his shoulders. It was an explosion of warmth. Oh, no poor choice of words. A giggle escaped him involuntarily. Everything was spinning.

“I think you should sit down for a moment,” she said softly, and it broke something in Sungjin’s heart.

He shook his head. “No, I have to go find my brother.”

“I know. Just sit down for a second, then you can go find him.”

“Alright,” he whispered.

Pressure was building up behind his eyes, but he refused to let the tears drop. The cold had given its place to a scalding hot sensation of pins and needles through his body. Everything hurt. The last time he had felt this miserable was when his parents had died.

_ “But mom, I’m not a baby anymore,” Sungjin said with a pout. “I want to come with you.” _

_ His mom brushed his hair out of his face patiently. Her face was a little blurry, but he could still see her smile. “Of course you’re not. You’re a big boy now,” she said. “But even big boys get sick sometimes, so you have to stay with your grandparents today to get better and even bigger.” _

_ Sungjin sniffled and pressed himself into his mom’s side. It was nice because she was warm and he was cold, but it was also uncomfortable because he was also hot at the same time. _

_ “But Dowoon gets to go with you,” Sungjin protested weakly. He knew it wouldn’t work, but he didn’t like the idea of being left alone while the rest of his family had fun together. _

_ “He’s not sick,” she said, rubbing his shoulder. “Do you want to know a secret?” she whispered. _

_ Sungjin looked up at her. She gave him a mischievous smile. _

_ “Okay…” _

_ “When we come back, your dad and Dowoon are planning to make you your favourite fish soup.” _

_ Sungjin dropped his head back against his mom. “That’s a lame secret.” _

_ “Maybe, but Dowoon’s really excited for it. I think he’s even more bummed than you that you can’t come.” _

_ “Moooooooooom! Are you coming?” Dowoon’s shrill voice echoed through their house. Sungjin winced at the spike of pain it sent through his head. _

_ “Yes, Dowoon, you don’t need to shout.” She shook her head in fake annoyance. “Now, Sungjin, to bed.” She smiled. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She placed a gentle kiss to his head before saying goodbye. _

_ “Where’s dad?” he mumbled, eyes already drooping. _

_ “I’ll tell him to come.” _

_ Sungjin was already half asleep when his dad came by. He didn’t understand much beyond his deep voice telling him something and a gentle hand on his forehead. By the time he woke up, his parents weren’t there anymore. Instead, someone was crying so loudly that he thought his head was about to explode. There was only one person who had this effect on Sungjin even when he wasn’t sick: Dowoon. He decided to investigate. He stood up on wobbly legs and walked outside. He shivered in as the cold wind wrapped itself around him. _

_ The cries were getting louder, and surely enough, he was cradled in grandpa’s arms, clothes torn apart and face covered in scratches and bruises. A lot of people were surrounding them. _

_ “Dowoon?” he said as he approached them, but his line of sight was cut by grandma stepping in front of him. _

_ He looked up. Her face was twisted and contorted, a look he’d never seen on her before. It didn’t mesh well with her laughter lines. _

_ “Sungjin!” she said, crouching to his eye level. “What are you doing out of bed?” _ _  
_

_“What’s wrong with Dowoon?” Sungjin asked, trying to peak over her shoulder. _

_ She didn’t respond as he put a hand on his forehead. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.” She stood up. “You’ll get worse being outside dressed like this.” _

_ “But what’s wrong with Dowoon?” Sungjin insisted. “I can’t sleep if he keeps screaming like that. It hurts my head.” _

_ “I know.” _

_ Sungjin followed her back to the house, but not before looking back at Dowoon and grandpa once again. There were even more people around them. They were kneeling on the ground, but he couldn’t see what they were doing. A chill went down his spine, but it had nothing to do with his fever. _

_ “Grandma, where’s mom? And dad?” he asked once he was sitting on his bed, legs dangling off the side. _

_ She didn’t answer him. She only continued to rummage through the contents of a round wooden table at the foot of his bed. She picked up a small bottle. It was his medicine, the one that tasted really horrible and made him sleepy for a whole day. Sungjin didn’t like it. _

_ Instead of handing it over to him like she always did, grandma sat down next to him. “Do you remember when I told you about the war that happened a long time ago, when I was around your age?” she asked. _

_ “Yeah,” Sungjin said, puzzled. _

_ “I also told you that there are bombs around here. Very few, but some of them got buried in the snow and ice and we never found them to get rid of them.” _

_ Sungjin dangled his legs faster. “So?” _

_ “Well, something terrible happened today.” _

_ “Like what?” he asked with a frown. _

_ “There was a bomb where your parents went fishing,” she said, “and it went off. Your parents were hurt very badly.” _

_ Sungjin looked up at her with glassy eyes. _

_ “They died because of their injuries.” _

_ Sungjin’s lips twitched downwards involuntarily. “But how? Mom said she’d be back.” He was shaking but it wasn’t because of his fever and chills. He knew what happened when someone died. His dad had explained it to him when his other grandma had died. People’s hearts would stop moving, and they looked like they were asleep, but they never woke up again. Then their bodies would be wrapped in blue cloth filled with stones, and then they would be thrown in the ocean. _

_ “Sungjin?” his grandma called his name. Her hand was on his face, wiping away his tears. _

_ He ripped himself away from her. “But- It doesn’t make sense. Mom said she’d be back before I knew it. And dad was supposed to make me fish soup. With Dowoon’s help.” His heart dropped. He knew explosions were bad. Dowoon was screaming, so he was okay, right? He was always screaming ever since he was born. _ _“Dowoon isn’t gonna die, is he?” _

_ Something like sadness passed through her face for a second, before she gathered him in his arms and kissed the top of his head. “Of course not. He’s a little hurt, but he’ll be fine in no time.” _

_ “Promise?” _ _  
_

_“Promise.” _

_ Sungjin wrapped his arms around her, trying to transfer some of her warmth to himself, but he couldn’t stop shaking no matter how much she stroked his back. _

_ “Did their bodies explode like bombs too?” _

_ “Sungjin…” _

_ “Are they outside? Can I see them? I want to see them.” _

_ “Drink your medicine first.” _

_ She handed him the bottle and he drank a gulp of the medicine. He tried very hard not to throw it up. He looked up at her. _

_ “Can I go see them now?” _ _  
_

_She sighed. “No, you’re sick. It’s too cold outside.” _

_ “No!” he shouted. “I want to see mom and dad! They were supposed to come back! Bring them back!” _

_ He scooted back in his bed until his back hit the ice wall. Dowoon was still screaming and his head hurt, so he hid it in his arms. Tears were forming in his eyes at a very fast rate. _

_ “Sungjin,” grandma said, running her fingers through his hair, just like his mom had done before she left. “You need to sleep. You’re still sick. I’ll stay with you if you want.” _

_ Sungjin shook his head vehemently. “No, I can’t sleep. I can never sleep when Dowoon screams!” he shouted. “And I don’t want you. I don’t like you. I want my mom and my dad,” his voice was reduced to a whisper as he spoke. _

_ “I know,” she whispered back. _

_ Sungjin’s eyes were drooping. He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist much longer, so he lay down in his bed, wrapping his blanket around himself with his back to grandma. She sat next to him in silence. She didn’t say anything as he sobbed into his pillow. She stayed there until he fell asleep and she was still there when he woke up and it was dark outside. Dowoon had stopped screaming. Everything was too quiet, even for a typical night at the South Pole. She gave him soup (special treat from grandpa, but it wasn’t dad’s soup) and more medicine and told him to sleep. He didn’t protest this time. He was exhausted even though he had slept for hours. _

_ The last time he saw his parents was when they were wrapped in blue sheets ready to be cast in the sea. Sungjin vowed to himself that it wouldn’t count as the last time he had seen them, because he hadn’t _ seen _ them. The last time would always be right before they went fishing. _

_ Dowoon had stopped screaming. In fact, he wasn’t making any sounds, at least not during the day. He woke up screaming several times a night. Sungjin thought he would appreciate the quiet, but it was unsettling. He could never get used to it, but even then, he didn’t make an effort to talk to Dowoon for a month. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t jealous. His parents always said that jealousy was bad, but they weren’t there anymore so he was allowed to be jealous of Dowoon, who had gone on the fishing trip Sungjin had been looking forward to for weeks. Maybe if he was there with them, if he wasn’t sick, he would’ve been able to stop the bomb. His mom told him he was a big boy. Wasn’t protecting their family what big boys did?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i wrote a 15k chapter what about it  
but seriously, this got pretty out of hand and i considered splitting it up but then i realized i haven't updated in a month and i said why the fuck not??? i felt like gollum while editing this at midnight but it was worth it i hope  
wonpil's constant near hysterical attacks are my mood these days (not in a meme way, i'm literally freaking out over the fact that i'll be a senior in high school in september and i'm scared of failing once i go to university)
> 
> anyway, tell me what you think about this chapter! and about jina °-°


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